Whale Watching Report

What an absolutely beautiful day we enjoyed aboard the Island Explorer 3! Resident Orca Killer Whales made their way back into our waters last night, and we lucked out today. Our trip started out with several purple sea stars and a great blue heron right in the marina. Heading north in the sun, we got word of a group of whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Cruising down Rosario Strait, our guests watched many harbor porpoise swim in the currents and a few harbor seals hauled out at Colville Island. Not long after, we found our first whale, a minke. This would end up being one of four total minkes found on the trip! After some nice looks in the flat calm water, we continued along, only a couple of miles from seeing Orcas. The first whale we saw was L41, Mega, fishing near Eagle Point. L25, Ocean Sun, was inshore, also fishing. These whales swam close to several of the fishing boats in the area, easily navigating the nets. Next we found L94, Calypso, and her calf L113. Mom and daughter fished and frolicked, often rolling around on top of each other! Both whales spy-hopped for us-it was a great show. A stop at Castle Rock on the way home gave us great looks at black-tailed deer on the shoreline and a regal looking mature bald eagle perched on the cliffside. Great, great day!!
-Michael Colahan