Jordan | July 26, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 trip
The sun was out and shining as Captain Pete, Mariana and I headed out on our Sea Lion vessel towards the promise of a great whale day. We headed south through the San Juan Channel and passed through Cattle Pass. Here we stopped briefly to watch some harbor seals playing in the waves and bounding between huge stalks of kelp. A few were flopping about on the rocky Whale Rocks while others idly watched. They were super cute.
Then we headed out towards the Salmon Bank, a shallow section of water that serves as a favorite spot for our minke whales. Then we spotted our minke whales! These guys are the smallest baleen whales in the world and we’re super lucky to have them here in the San Juan’s. We watched a minke pop up in random spots all around our boat with his black back and crescent moon dorsal fin, creating a game of I spy among our guests.
Then, we headed northeast toward the south side of Lopez island where we found our Southern Resident orca whales! These orcas were definitely hunting salmon as they trekked along the shoreline and occasionally thrashed about in the water. We even saw a few spyhops as the whales peeped their heads above the water and surveyed the area. When they do this, the whales are usually looking at the islands, our boats and where their fellow whales are without having to vocalize or echolocate under water. We watched several matrilines of both the J pod and K pod as they elegantly pursued salmon.
What a great day out on the water!