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“Let it lie in peace”, say residents of Yuquot (FriendlyCove), explaining that it is unwise to raise a fallen pole.Mistaking the local word ‘Nootk-sitl’ which is variously interpretedas ‘Go around, make a circle’ or ‘circle bay’ for the name ofFriendly Cove, Cook called the area Nootka. He spent a month inResolution Cove repairing his two ships, exploring Nootka Islandand exchanging gifts with the Mowachahts.Some of these gifts were sea otter furs. It was the incidental mentionof these furs in Captain Cook’s diaries and the fantasticallyhigh prices the sailors got for them from Chinese merchants thatPhotos by Lyn Hancockled to English, Yankee, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Russiantrading vessels swarming into Nootka Sound for the next 30 years—at least while stocks of sea otter held out.The Nuu-chah-nulth were skilled in hunting marine mammalsfrom sea otters to whales. Eight to a boat, they paddled as far as 25miles out to sea to hunt whales, braving open ocean swells andunhindered westerly winds in huge 30 to 35-foot canoes madefrom the hollowed-out trunks of giant red cedars often rigged withanimal-skin sails. The Nuu-chah-nulth canoe had a relatively flatbottom, a vertical stern, and a painted, carved upswept bow thatended in a wolf head. The people from Yuquot were often at sea forseveral months and journeyed hundreds of miles.Despite the name Friendly Cove, many of the incidents that happenedhere during the years of competitive high-stakes sea otterhunting were not so friendly. Piracy. Slavery. Murders. Massacres.Threats of war.In 1792, Captains Vancouver and Quadra patched things upbetween England and Spain in England’s favour (the Nootka Convention),and in 1795, the Spaniards abandoned their buildingsand gardens, which were soon taken over by Chief Maquinna whenhe returned from his winter village at Tahsis. But problems remained.Especially for sea otters. After a century of unregulated slaughter,the sea otter was eventually exterminated from British Columbia,Washington and Oregon by the 1920s. A handful survived in Alaskaand slowly expanded their numbers and distribution.In 1970, while traveling in a 13-foot Avon rubber boat in Alaska,I joined the G.B.Reed, a Canadian Federal Fisheries research vesselin Prince William Sound, where 45 sea otters were to be capturedand transplanted to the Bunsby Islands north of Kyuquot Soundin British Columbia. I was lucky to be part of that historic operationand in my book There’s a Raccoon in my Parka, I described myjourney by rubber raft in Alaska and down the west coast of BritishColumbia, exploring the habitat of the sea otter. Only 14 sea ottersWEST COAST EXPEDITIONSEducational NatureTours since 1974Sea Kayak theKyuquot WildernessToll Free 800-665-3040www.island.net/~nature•Basecamp comforts•Educational focus•Cultural contact•Family oriented•All-inclusiveAugust /September 2001 WaveLength7