Curious Whales! - Friday, August 22, 2008
"Our morning started on the back side of Guemes Island as we entered into the Strait of Georgia! Watching Harbor Porpoise feeding in the tide rips and Pigeon Guillemots diving into the depths of the glassy water we entered into Rosario Strait heading south towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca! Our journey lead us to Hein Bank where we found 2 feeding Minke Whales enjoying a brunch of bait fish! We watched the birds as the smaller Minke Whale sent a tidal wave through the middle dispersing the birds all at once!! Among the birds that were sent flying were Common Murres, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets & Heerman's Gulls! It wasn't too long before the smaller of the two Minke Whales became quite comfortable with our presence and gave our guests an up close look as it swam right along our starboard side!! We watched as the two very hungry whales fed! Soon we found ourselves having to leave the friendly Minke Whales and returned towards the dock by the south end of Lopez Island! We stopped at the pass between Lopez Island & Castle Rock where we found a half a dozen Turkey Vultures, a Bald Eagle perched atop a rocky ledge took flight over our boat, Harbor Seals were soaking up the sun on rocky outcroppings, while pairs of Marbled Murrletts swam nearby!! The afternoon brought us back along the north side of Guemes Island where we continued up the Strait of Georgia! The strait produced hundreds of Harbor Porpoise gently rolling through its water, scavenging Harbor Seals swimming about, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots as we continued our journey north towards Point Roberts! Just south of the peninsula we found members of J & L pods milling around its shores! We received a special surprise from Princess Angeline (J17) as she passed close by not once but twice as we sat with engines off as the whales all began milling about quickly changing their course! Princess Angeline's daughters, Polaris (J28) & Tahlequah (J35) weren't far from their mom! Polaris seemed to be playing nanny from Eclipse (J41) as her mother Shachi (J19) watched nearby! We left as the sun continued sinking lower in the sky watching Ruffles (J1) enormous dorsal fin rise & fall in the water!" - Naturalist Kate Janes
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 8:24 PM
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