L-pod and a Minke Whale
An young L-pod member porpoising! 
We had an orca surprise us at close range!
One of the smallest minke whales I've ever seen.We had beautiful weather and whales for today's trip. We found L-pod on the west side of San Juan Island heading south. They were spread out near the shoreline. The first orcas we spotted were Racer, L72, Fluke, L105, Nigel, L95, and Baba, L26. Next two youngsters came by and they were playing around with each other like crazy. They breached, spy hopped, tail slapped, porpoised, rolled around, swam upside-down, and that's just what we could see above the water. Next Mega, L41, swam by giving us a great look at his 6 foot tall dorsal fin. Then two orcas surprised us all by surfacing right next to the boat as they swam side by side. Everybody was thrilled. After we left the orca scene we ventured out looking for more whales. Near Salmon Bank we found at least three, and possibly four minke whales swimming in the same general area. On one occasion two of them surfaced right next to us. One of the minke whales was extremely small (see picture). On the way back to the dock we also had a chance to look at some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks at Colville Island. It was another awesome day. Naturalist Bart Rulon
.jpg)
Skana Up Close (L79)Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes
"Our afternoon trip lead the Island Explorer 3 back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where we slowed down to take in the beauty that the south end of Lopez Island has to offer. It was in its protected waters that we found soaring Turkey Vultures and a lone Black Oystercatcher that was attempting to blend in with the black basalt rock of Blind Island. We continued on our way towards where the Orcas of L pod were reported and found a Minke whale along the way. Since the Orcas were headed away from us in a northward direction we decided to mark the Minke's location and continue moving in hopes of visiting with the black & white cetaceans! We found the trailers just south of False Bay heading northward but then they began milling to our delight allowing us more quality time with Mystery (L85), Skana (L79) and one unidentifiable female (due to her low rolls through the water which did not allow her saddle patch enough exposure at the surface). The three milled about changing directions and there were actually two points in the trip that Skana ventured close to the boat to partake in a bit of people watching!"
- Naturalist Kate Janes
The beautiful photos below were taken on June 27th's afternoon trip by passenger Fred Smith. Thanks Fred for sharing your images from the day!
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 4:29 PM
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home