What can I say about today...? The whales made us work for it. We headed around the calm, serene north side of the island and turned the corner south down the west side. We had heard that there were whales moving north in the vicinity of Lime Kiln but by the time we got there there was nothing. We kept motoring south around the corner toward False Bay. Still nothing. The wind was blowing and the seas were getting rougher the farther along we went, but still we went. Finally up ahead we saw dorsal fins. We got there, thinking we would be able to relax and cruise down swell, parallel to the whales. Apparently the whales had other ideas. The big male that had been about 400 yards off our starboard side suddenly surfaced behind us. We motored away to get out of his path, but again he turned toward us and surfaced off our stern. It put us sideways to the swell, but there was nothing we could do. We braced ourselves against the roll and the hearty passengers continued to watch and attempt to snap photos. The whales were cruising. There was a lot of direction change and I hope, for their sake, there was some epic hunting happening. We finally turned and moved on in toward the shelter of the San Juan Channel. It calmed down as soon as we rounded Cattle Pass and we stopped at Whale Rocks to check out 2 big Steller's and a hand full of Harbor Seals. There was a bald eagle in the top of a dead tree to top it all off on our way into the harbor.
What a day. Whether you are an ocean adventurer or rooted to the land, there is nothing like some big swell and a little salt spray in your face to make you feel alive and remember who is in charge when you are out there on the water. A wise friend once told me, upon my first foray into the field of marine biology, "The ocean will always win".
Special thanks to our amazing Kittiwake passengers who made the day an exciting adventure and made me remember why I do this day after day.
Laura, naturalist, san juan safaris