Whale Watching Report

Our day started off with a trip through Thatcher Pass and down San Juan Channel. As we made our way up San Juan Island, we found orcas! The first whale we saw was Mike. He was traveling near his mom and siblings. He gave us some great looks as he swam by. There were so many whales spread out all over, it was whale soup! We also saw Cappuccino and Raggedy. Some of the whales I wasn't able to identify because of the lighting conditions and shadows. We had to say goodbye and head back towards homeport. There were two eagles perched on Swirl Rocks. We did a slow down through the south end of Lopez Island and Castle Rock and found a turkey vulture as well as some pigeon guillemots. It was a beautiful morning on the water!

The evening trip started with a trip through the inner islands. We saw harbor seals, harbor porpoise and bald eagles. At Battleship Island, we started seeing fins! We found the trailing group of orcas! One of the first whales identified was Ruffles. We also saw Scoter, Spieden, Lobo, Granny, Surprise!, Riptide, Hy'Shqa, among others. Sequim, Rainshadow and Sekiu gave us a great "swim-by!" We could see one of them swimming so fast, right under the water. It was amazing! We saw several breaches and tail lobs and cartwheels. They were headed away from us, so we had to leave. Our return trip took us back through the inner islands. There was an osprey perched in its nest on Crane Island. What a beautiful way to spend the evening!