Piper | 05/07/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

Even though it's still early season, the sun shone today like a warm summer afternoon and the skies were so clear we could even see Mt Rainier as Captain Gabe and I led the M/V Sea Lion out of the marina, where we had an early bald eagle sighting, and south through San Juan Channel. After getting into the Strait of Juan de Fuca we headed east towards Whidbey Island where there had been whisperings of a gray whale feeding in the mud! It was a...

Today the M/V Sea Lion continued its whale-viewing streak into April with two species of cetaceans! April has been good to us in terms of weather and wildlife. We left the dock under sunny skies and with great expectations!

Captain Mike, Naturalist Rachel and I left Friday Harbor and almost immediately we were lucky enough to encounter a gray whale! Gray whales are unusual visitors for us here in the San Juan Islands. This was actually only the third or fourth gray whale I have seen...

Southern Resident Killer Whales. Photo courtesy of NOAA/NMFS

"Until we meet again."

Well, it is sad to say, but today was our last daily trip.  We still have a few Saturdays left, but this is it for the daily grind.  It has been a season like no other, with the orcas being found along the coast of San Juan Island most every day.  They still do not keep any kind of schedule and there is no guarantee of seeing them, but what a fabulous way to spend one's days.  We have racked up...

Marine Biologist John Calambokidis showed a series of slides and some video and one listed what they found including "50 gallons of undigested contents, mostly algae but 3.2 lbs were "human debris, including plastic bag material, fabrics (including a leg of sweatpants), fishing line, golf ball, duct tape and a juice pouch.

15 oz of the total debris were plastic bag pieces alone." He said this indicated that the whale had clearly been feeding in the waters in and near Puget...

#53 - Photo courtesy of Cascadia Research Collective

Today we followed whales across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.   A vague report of a whale south of San Juan Island became a gray whale known as #53 (see photo above).  On our way towards the area where he was said to be, one of our guests spotted something else in the water.  I quickly left the bridge to sit on the bow and see if I could help find anything.  Sure enough, up popped a juvenile minke whale a few hundred yards from us. ...

We went to Whidbey Island, near the Whidbey Island Navel Base, to see not one, but two gray whales.

One appeared to be a bit larger than the other. Gray whales are amazing animals.

While there, we also saw some very cool Navy Jets flying right over us!!! On the way back we spotted a submarine... I had to take a couple of double takes but sure enough it was a submarine. After our submarine encounter we then headed toward Long Island and found a bald eagle.

On Whale Rocks we saw...

What a day to see gray. A whale that is. As our balmy (82 degrees F, 28% humidity) weather continues here in the San Juan Islands we took to the seas to find cool breezes and cool animals. True to our Pacific Northwest abundance we were not disappointed. Craig expertly captained the MV Sea Lion while Jeanette and I performed for the crowd. Our boisterous group of guests, along with Junior Mariners, were super wildlife spotters and found lots of things for everyone to see.

The waters...

Gray whale today near Whitbey Island Naval Base.

These whales have a streamlined body with a narrow, tapered head. Gray whales are always great to watch. We observed the whale foraging. We even saw the whales fluke.

Gray whales are bottom sediment feeders. The whale exhibited the predictable breathing pattern. Gray whales are a mysticete or baleen whale and have two blow holes.

Sometimes you can see a heart or v-shaped spray shape. This is really cool... We also got to see some harbor...