Herb Hartman, photographer, has gone out whale watching with us so many times that he is considered an honorary staff member.
Here are photos from his two tours, one at 1:30 and one at 5:30 from August 13, 2012.
Minkes today!
Although our Southern Resident Killer Whales were nowhere to be found today, we did have luck finding Minke Whales. Not just one, but two (maybe even 3!) Minkes were in the Salmon Banks area, on the south side of San Juan Island (48°25.33’N, 122°59.94’W). Just rounding the corner out of Friday Harbor, a Bald Eagle majestically perched at the top of a fir on Turn Island. On the way out of San Juan Channel, eight Stellar Sea Lions sunned themselves on Whale Rocks, while...
Killer Whales from both K- and L-Pods were headed north along the westside of San Juan Island. The whales were reported heading north from Lime Kiln State Park. We caught up with the leaders near Open Bay (48°34.824N, 123°11.685W) who were mostly members of K-Pod. We traveled with these whales to Kellett Bluff where we waited for the rest of the group to travel north. We saw over 15 whales as they cruised by. At times we were surrounded by whales as a few individuals were traveling...
Busy Saturday on the water today, but the whales didnât seem to mind!!! Members of Jpod had spread out almost half the length of San Juan traveling south in Haro Strait between Lime Kiln and False Bay (48°32.15N, 123°00.87W). The first whale we encountered was Doublestuff (J34) rolling around and traveling amongst a few females enjoying the sunshine and family time.
The next group we came across was HyâShqa (J37) and her VERY new born calf J49 with Grandma Samish (J14)...
Exciting day on the water! Leaving the harbor under rainy skies, we traveled north around San Juan Island. Happily, the skies dried and the sun soon came out just as we caught up with members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales in Haro Strait. Traveling along the west side of Stuart Island and milling in the Turn Point area (first sighted at 48°40.67N 123°14.92W) were: Onyx (L87), along with Slick (J-16) and her calf, Echo (J-42), Mike (J-26) and Alki (J-36). Our next sighting...
It was another hot one today! Beautiful for seeing all kinds of wildlife. South of San Juan Island was our destination as we left Friday Harbor. Just outside, we stopped to view some harbor seals and pups hauled out on the rocky reef and a bald eagle in the tree tops. Further south, on whale rocks, there was a massive Steller sea lion sitting up, then five or six others swimming amongst the bull kelp.
Then, at salmon bank we spotted not only some harbor porpoise, but the slender...
Tons of whale action today; three Minke Whales and even a Humpback!!! (Salmon Bank, 48°25.01N 122°59.19W)
Humpbacks typically don’t come this far inland, to San Juan Island, so it was a great treat! These whales couldn’t be more graceful raising their fluke entirely out of the water and slowly diving down without a splash. They are THE true mermaids of the sea.
On our way in we saw tons of other wildlife including Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Steller Sea Lions, and Harbor Porpoise.
Wha...
We were greeted with beautiful weather out on the water today: seas like glass, sunny, and clear. Perfect for spotting minke whales, and that’s just what we were looking for. Off the south end of San Juan Island, around Salmon Bank (48º24.977’N 122º 57.291’ W), we came across at least three or four minke whales. Two of which were traveling right next to each other! Baleen whales typically travel individually in feeding grounds, so seeing two, twenty-five foot whales surface one after...
Just south of Salmon Bank, about 2-3 miles offshore of San Juan Island, we came across a Minke on a mission (48°22.9â N, 122°55.9âW). This Minke was on the hunt, moving from bait ball to bait ball, no fish left behind. After only a few minutes of watching him, it became almost predictable as to where he would pop up next; just look for the birds man!! Between dining episodes, the whale would immediately pick up itsâ pace surfacing multiple times toward the next meal in...
We had calm seas and a bright sunny day, perfect for wildlife watching! We departed Friday Harbor heading south, stopping to view harbor seals in the water and hauled out, as well as a bald eagle perched high in the tree tops. There were more seals around Goose Island, plus cormorants, gulls, and a large stellar sea lion playing in the bull kelp. Then, around whale rocks we saw three massive male steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks. One even started growling! It was awesome to...