Whale Watching Report

Monday, August 10, 2009

Orca Whales in Sight from Island Explorer 3

Stay tuned to the Whale Report for updates on today's tours from Naturalist Kate Janes.

Mega (L41)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Members of L Pod
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Frisky Dall's Porpoise
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

AM: "Our day started with some great looks at a Minke Whale within a stone's throw of Fidalgo Island! This good sized whale was moving northbound towards Allan Island. After a visit with our first whale of the day we continued onward towards Canada. We found members of L pod moving eastbound from Discovery Island! The L12's with Mega (L41) really standing out amongst the smaller dorsal fins gracefully moved off island as they ventured towards American waters. We watched as their travel behavior changed as they approached some bull kelp draped in the water. The little ones enjoyed a quick chance to play as even some of the adults circled amidst the huge plant. After enjoying the Orcas we found a few of their smaller cousins, the Dall's Porpoise who decided to "play" with the boat as they quickly darted from side to side bow riding for a while!"

Rostrum Lift
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Jump to It
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Line Up (Spirit L22, Skana L79, Solstice L89, Alexis L12, & Mystery L85)
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Friendly Tufted Puffin Surprise!
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

PM: "With the evening came outstanding water conditions regardless of the bit of liquid sunshine- neither our guests nor the whales played any attention to the slight mist as both enjoyed the beauty of the evening. We found members of L pod just off Salmon Bank pretty spread out and moving east towards Lopez Island. It was near Iceberg Point that the traveling subpods began to group up and behaviors began to change. Play began to ensue as whales began breaching, lounging, taillobing (upside down & right side up), backdiving, cartwheels, spyhops and even one whale showed off how it could do a headstand! As we enjoyed the whales along Lopez Island's south shore a Tufted Puffin appeared just sitting at the surface of the water! What a fantastic surprise to an amazing evening!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 5:43 PM   1 Comments

1 Comments:

At August 16, 2009 9:18 AM , Blogger Dave K said...

Thanks Kate for the great photos and wonderful experience! Just home from our PNW vacation, the first thing we checked was, the web site hoping your pics were posted. Reminded us of the memorable time we had on the p.m. trip Aug 10.

All the folks at Island Adventures were great!

Dave and Karen, Colorado

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

www.flickr.com
Island Adventures2011's Whale Report Photos