Whale Watching Report

Our trip started out with rain today but it kept getting better all day. The Olympic rain shadow helped us out by the time we reached the one hour point in our trip. Our wildlife viewing started off with a California sea lion in Guemes Channel. Next we cruised over toward Whidbey Island to check out the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain Sailboats. Then it was on to Minor Island where we got a great look at a bald eagle incubating eggs on its nest. At nearby Smith Island we also spotted some harbor seals, harlequin ducks, and rhinoceros auklets. Next we cruised over to Partridge Bank, and before we even got there Captain Carl spotted our first minke whale of the day. At first he was difficult to keep track of but after he got used to us being there he came over and gave us some great viewing. Next we headed northward to look for more and within ten minutes Carl spotted two more minke whales that we watched for a while. Then we got word that a humpback whale had been spotted up at Andrew's Bay so we changed direction to get there as fast as possible. Luckily the humpback was heading toward us and by the time we reached him he had swam past Lime Kiln Lighthouse. We were all very excited to see our first humpback whale of the year. It looked like a Juvenal whale. He was surfacing 3-4 times then raising his tail flukes for a deep dive. At one point he swam right toward a flock of gulls feeding on a bait ball. The gulls all took flight and the whale lunge fed at the surface scattering all the birds. On the way back toward the dock we spotted several harbor porpoises in the calm waters of Haro Strait. Naturalist Bart Rulon.