Today we left Friday Harbor with no immediate reports of whales in the area. But, as whale and wildlife watching goes, there was ample opportunity for a great day on the water. As we started heading North to survey for whales we got the report of a humpback whale in Boundary Pass just South of the Canadian Gulf Islands. As we headed up to that area we saw multiple bald eagles in flight as well as harbor seals and harbor porpoises. We made it to the area of the reported humpback whale, where we watched the whale have a varied pattern of movement, this type of directional shift usually indicates feeding behavior. We decided to sit with the motor off to avoid disturbing the whale’s feeding pattern and to not interrupt its course of movement. Much to our surprise we were all shocked by the loud exhale of the humpback whale right next to our boat! We remained stationary while the whale took a few breaths around our vessel and eventually the whale took its final breath before going down on a tail raising dive. We would never unlawfully approach of whale or put a whale in danger, but the whales don’t always play by our rules, so when a whale surprises us by surfacing near our vessel it is much safer to keep our engines off and let the whale get to a safe distance from the boat before motoring up again. We then watched the humpback whale feed before heading back towards Friday Harbor. On our way back we saw many more bald eagles, Steller’s Sea Lions, and more harbor seals. Shout out to our awesome guests today that not only had great questions but were constantly on the lookout for wildlife during the tour!