Written by Elah
on May 16, 2018

Beautiful day with Humpback whales!

Beautiful day with Humpback whales!

Today we were joined by middle schoolers from Lafayette, CO.  These teens were eager to see water, whales and any other wildlife we could show them.  They seemed to bring the good luck with them because we had a two whale species day!

We cruised south, knowing that the area had been rife with Minke whales in the previous weeks.  Luck found us and we spotted a Minke whale lunge feeding right through a bait ball with birds circling overhead.  These speedy whales are the smallest baleen whales in our area and can zoom around at 30mph. Minkes tend to dive in a zig zagging pattern, which can make them hard to keep track of, but our group was up for the challenge as they spotted and tracked them as they swam by our boat a number of times.  Before we peeled off to look for more wildlife, the wind shifted and some of us at the bow were privy to experience a nostril-full of stinky minke.

Afterward, we joined another boat that had found a pair of humpback whales close to the southern tip of San Juan Island.  We got to observe the humpbacks, the area’s largest baleen whale, and compare them with the smallest ones we had just left.  These humpbacks were surfacing about 100 yards away from the Western Prince II and had a captivated audience in our school group as they guided us in the direction of Friday Harbor.

As they went down on one of their longer dives we left the area to go look at some steller sea lions playing king of the rock, with some lackadaisical harbor seals observing from a distance.

We cruised back into Friday Harbor just in time for lunch.  These middle schoolers asked some astute questions and were fully involved in the day’s wildlife tour.  We hope they enjoyed the ride! If you’re interested in booking a private field trip or charter with us please give us a call at 360-378-5315

Written by Elah
on May 16, 2018

Beautiful day with Humpback whales!

Latest Blog ...