Whale Watching Report

The first part of our trip today was rainy but little by little the rain started to disappear by the second half of our trip. The water conditions were excellent with very calm seas. Our first wildlife views came in Rosario Strait with many harbor porpoises. Next we spotted two bald eagles, perched side by side, on the national wildlife refuge sign on Bird Rocks. We cruised over for a close look and also watched the double-crested cormorants, and Brant's cormorants that weren't too happy with the eagles presence. Next we slowed down at the south end of Lopez Island and took a good look at Castle Island where we spotted lots of pigeon guillemots. From there we headed out into open water and eventually we spotted our first whale of the day at Hein Bank. It was a minke whale, and once he got comfortable with us he gave us some good viewing, often at close range. We also had many harbor seals coming to the surface in the same area. Next we headed east to try and find more whales. Just southwest of Smith Island captain Michael spotted a second minke whale for our passengers. We watched him for a few minutes, then we cruised over to take a look at Minor Island. We spotted the two bald eagles and their nest out there, and today we were able to see an eaglet in the nest with the adult! We also saw about fifty harbor seals hauled out on the beach in front of the eagles. On the way back to the dock we saw a California sea lion on a channel marker in Guemes Channel. Naturalist Bart Rulon