Orca Whales Close to Home!
"Our day started like a scene from a pirates movie. A slight marine haze blanketed the islands creating quite the ambiance for searching for whales! We didn't have to go far to find the tall dorsal fins of J pod cutting through the glassy waters. As they made their way across the southern end of Rosario Strait they angled towards Lopez Island. A couple of the young whales seemed excited as they breached and taillobed! We spent some great time with the Orcas while they took their time around Lopez Island. We watched as a few fished in the riptides near Colville Island. In the midst of the Orcas a Minke Whale appeared for a special visit! Our guests enjoyed this doubleheader and seeing the physical difference between toothed whales & baleen whales!! What a great surprise! Other wildlife seen during the morning trip included: Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murre, Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, an Eagle's nest, Common Sea Stars, Black Oystercatchers, Peregrine Falcons, Harbor Porpoise, Pigeon Guillemots, Glaucous-winged Gulls, & Cormorants! By the afternoon the marine haze had lifted leaving us with blue skies as far as the eye could see! We found J pod not far from where we had left them in the morning, just off Salmon Bank in the Strait of Juan de Fuca! We were welcomed with a breach by a young whale as J pod made its way in a southward direction. After spending some time with a small subpod we spotted Ruffles (J1) and decided to spend time with our local celebrity! It wasn't long before some of the rest of J pod joined Ruffles. Slick (J16) and little J42 gave our guests some great looks as little J42 stole are hearts as she porpoised just behind her mom!! We ended our amazing evening with J pod with one last visit with Ruffles. Then headed towards Smith & Minor Islands. There we saw 9 Bald Eagles, at least 30 Harbor Seals, hundreds of Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black Oystercatchers, Rhinoceros Auklets, and a pair of Bald Eagles at their nest (on the sandy beaches of Minor Island)! We watched as the two eagles called to one another and bent over deep in the nest to feed their small eaglets! A beautiful way to end yet another spectacular day on the water!" - Naturalist Kate Janes
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 10:55 PM
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