Elusive minke
Today we had a beautiful day on the water! We found a minke whale who was pretty shy. We found a plethora of other wildlife though: Steller sea lions, California sea lions, harbor porpoise and harbor seals. Our trip began with a California sea lion hauled out on the Guemes Channel marker. He poked his head up to check us out, then continued with his nap. We went south down Rosario Strait and found a lot of harbor porpoise swimming in the current lines. On Boulder Island, a mature bald eagle was perched on a tree. There were also a few harbor seals swimming off the island. At the south end of Lopez Island we did a slow down where we found some turkey vultures flying high above the boat. A lone harbor seal was hauled out on the rocks. We pushed further offshore in the Strsit of Juan de Fuca. On Salmon Bank, Captain Carl found us a minke whale! Our minke only showed himself two more times before he completely disappeared! We searched and searched trying to find him. He didn't want to play. We went to Whale Rocks where several Steller sea lions were hauled out. There were two that were having a standoff, growling at each other. We headed back out to see if we could find our minke or another whale. We searched as we took a big turn off McArthur Bank. In Rosario Strait, there were a lot of harbor porpoise and some bird action, but no whales. We found a minke today, but he wasn't as cooperative as we would have liked him to be. All of our passengers get to come back with us, for free trip to experience more wildlife. It truly was an amazing day full of wildlife and sunshine!

















































