Lunge Feeding Minke Whales!!
Stay tuned to the Whale Report for details and photos from Naturalist Bart Rulon and click here to see the position of the Island Explorer 3 from space! The water was like glass out there today. Conditions were perfect for spotting marine wildlife. We could see probably hundreds of harbor porpoise scattered throughout Rosario Straits. We slowed down near the south end of Lopez Island to check out wildlife between Lopez and Castle Island. Pigeon guillemots were plentiful and purple sea stars were too. We even saw a beautiful red blood star. A few harbor seals were hauled out on the rocks and we passed by for a close up look. Next we moved southwest into open water searching for whales at Hein Bank. Along the way two tufted puffins flew right up to our boat circling around us at close range, and then flew back in the direction they came from!! It was almost as if they just flew over to check out our boat. Captain Michael was the first to spot a minke whale today. It wasn't long before we realized that there were two minke whales, and they were actively feeding. The birds were feeding too. Large flocks of glaucous-winged gulls, rhinoceros auklets, and pelagic cormorants were feeding on bait fish all over the place. Harbor seals were mixed in there too. The birds would move from bait ball to bait ball and the minke whales would follow suit, so it was easy to keep track of them. We just watched the birds to get an idea of where the minke whales were going next. On several occasions the minke whales came shooting out of the water lunge feeding!! They definitely gave us a good show for about an hour. Next we headed back to the south end of Lopez Island to check out Swirl Rocks where we found several harbor seals hauled out and two black oystercatchers. We finished off our day looking at the bald eagle's nest at the south end of Lopez Island, and we saw two bald eagles there, one adult and one immature bird. It was a great way to finish off a fantastic day on the water. Naturalist Bart Rulon
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 3:06 PM
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1 Comments:
Travelling to San Juans this summer
Please suggest:
Best spots to Kayak
Best Spots in general to see whales
Affordable accomodations
Canadians
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