Whale Watching Report

Our whale watching began today out at Hein Bank when we spotted three minke whales. We spent most of our time with one of them in particular that seemed to be very curious about our boat. He surfaced many times near us and came in so close on one occasion that we could see his eye! Later as we cruised over toward Smith Island we spotted another minke whale that was also very cooperative. What happened next at Minor Island was like a Discovery channel episode. We could see about ten bald eagles lined up along the shoreline, with two groups of harbor seals nearby. As we approached one of the groups of seals a bald eagle flew in and landed right amongst the seals and started to feed. Some of the seals seemed very alarmed and others didn't seem to care much. Soon another bald eagle flew in and attacked the first eagle as they fought over the food as the seals watched like spectators at a boxing match. At first we couldn't really tell what they were feeding on, but soon it became apparent that the eagles were probably feeding on afterbirth left behind from a brand new seal pup that had just been born. A mother seal started protecting her tiny pup by getting between the eagle and her youngster. Next the adult seal started lunging at the closest eagle forcing him into the air. Before long other eagles were flying in and fighting over the scraps. Fortunately for the seals, all three of the pups in the area seemed to get through the whole ordeal unharmed. One thing I love about these trips is you just never know what's going to happen from one day to the next! Naturalist Bart Rulon