Whale Watching Report

The conditions were perfect today for whale watching! We had glassy calm water and hazy sunshine all day. Before leaving the dock passengers saw a bald eagle perched on a piling on Jetty Island. As we headed toward Whidbey Island we found several California sea lions and harbor seals. Over the course of the day we saw many sea lions that seemed to be happy just floating lazily on the water's surface. We found our first Gray Whale, #356 just south of Camano Island. 356 was taking long dives, but we were able to get many good looks. Later we found a bald eagle and nest on Camano Head. On our way leaving the nest we spotted #356 again, and another gray whale nearby. later as we headed toward Hat island we spotted two more gray whales. We only had time for about 15 minutes with these two whales but they gave us some great photo opportunities as they surfaced close together several times. Mark (senior deckhand)was our hero today, as he spotted all 4 of our whales. Other sightings for the day include hundreds of western grebes, double crested cormorants, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, common loons, brant, surf scoters, and one lonely common murre.