San Juan Whale Watching

Today we finally got to see the “rest” of J-Pod as they headed up the west side of San Juan Island. Here are a few of my photos and a great report and awesome spyhop photo from JB:

Well, as predicted, the J14’s, J16’s, and J8 went North last night to look for the rest of their pod. Meanwhile, their pod-mates came a-callin’ down here, so it appears that they keep missing each other. We had a wonderful encounter with J1, J2, J27, L57, the J22’s, J28. We were spending some quality time with J1 Ruffles and J2 Granny who were leading the group and were actively fishing in the strong currents near Kellett Bluff. Then they slowed down to allow J19 and J41 to catch up with them. It was so cool to watch this little group travel along the shoreline, frequently coming to the surface amidst the thick kelp beds that line that part of the island. Then Ruffles did something I’ve never seen him do. He’d come to the surface, dive down, and the next surfacing would be a big spyhop. Then 2-3 more surfacings and another spyhop! He did 4 of these, and one time he had a bit of kelp on his massive pectorals! Then J41 started holding his tail flukes high out of the water, as if to show “uncle ruffles” his bit of acrobatics. It was so relaxing yet so fun to watch these whales carrying on in their daily lives. A fabulous wildlife experience!

John Boyd (JB)
Marine Naturalist, Western Prince