Meet Josh Lewis, Long Beach Lodge Resort's marine adventures captain
With intimate knowledge and unique passion, Josh Lewis brings the wilderness and wildlife to Tofino and Long Beach Lodge Resort visitors.Long Beach Lodge Resort marine adventures captain Josh Lewis first experienced Long Beach and Pacific Rim National Park as a youngster. Raised in Ladysmith - a small town south of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island - Josh took many family trips to Tofino as a child. The time he spent surfing and on the beach had a great impression on him. |
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After graduating from high school, Josh attended Vancouver Island University with an eye on a degree in education. However, the sand, surf and adventure of Tofino and Long Beach beckoned: he moved to Tofino for a summer job and then permanently in 1999.
Josh says he brought his teaching aspirations with him; “I was initially a kayak instructor and then a surf instructor, so I was a teacher, just in a different setting.” Josh pursued his love of surfing and explored the shoreline and wilderness on the tip of the Esowista Peninsula, and the diverse geography of Clayoquot Sound.
Josh’s knowledge of the region, its people, customs and geography grew to the point where he was hired as a wilderness guide. Initially a captain on a Zodiac (a type of rigid inflatable boat) he was able to access and share the most remarkable wilderness adventures and beautiful locations with visitors from around the world.
He says he learned a lot during his early guiding years. Among the most important is the fact that while visitors want to see whales and other aquatic wildlife, there are times that an orca or gray whale sighting is unlikely.
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“Spending hours on the choppy water hoping for a glimpse of a tail can be frustrating. When a whale sighting is unlikely, I use my knowledge of the shoreline and animal habitat to provide visitors an equally memorable experience,” explains Josh.
This may mean a wolf or a bear on the shoreline or a sea lion on the rocks, but invariably, the experience is outstanding.
“I have found that people of different nationalities like to view different wildlife,” says Josh. “Germans like to see bears. I will take the boat to places along the shoreline during low tide and when I know the bears have come down to forage.”
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Josh has had many exciting encounters with wildlife around Tofino, Clayoquot Sound and Long Beach.
During August 2013, he happened upon six transient orcas hunting approximately two miles offshore. The group of killer whales came upon a Steller’s sea lion. The male, or bull Steller, is a huge animal, with an average weight of about 700 kilograms. Some may reach 1,000 kilograms, with a body length of up to three metres. The female Steller is about a third as large. According to Josh, on the warm August day, the alpha female orca rammed the massive Steller’s sea lion and then launched herself into the air, attempting to squash and break the sea lion's back. “The orca was launching probably 30 feet in the air and landing on the sea lion.”
Josh says that while he has witnessed orcas hunting numerous times, less violent, just-as-rewarding encounters are also quite common. He has come across humpback whales, harbour porpoises, California lions, sea otters, Pacific white sided dolphins, fin whales, minke whales and even blue whales.
Please check back for Part Two of our profile of Long Beach Lodge Resort marine adventures captain Josh Lewis
