Sky and sea blended together as we left Friday Harbor this afternoon. It was overcast and a bit foggy, but spirits were high in the hopes of finding killer whales. We headed south, and as we turned around Cattle Point it started to clear up, giving us good visibility. As soon as we reached False Bay, off in the distance was a large, triangular dorsal fin. Soon after that we were surrounded by killer whales, and even got to see a younger one breach three times before swimming off.
We followed the whales back towards Cattle Point then headed towards Salmon Bank in search minke whales. It didn’t take long for us to spot a lone minke occasionally coming to the surface to take a breath. After watching the minke disappear one last time we headed back into Friday Harbor, but we weren’t done watching for wildlife. Near Long Island there were three bald eagles sitting on top of the rocks. We also slowed near whale rocks to see an acrobatic group of harbor seals in the water. Finally, we stopped to watch a large pod of harbor porpoises, some of them popping up close enough for us to hear them exhale. This dreary weather day turned into an amazing day full of wildlife.
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris