(6/24/17 - Kestrel 10AM and 2PM Departure)
Today we left Friday Harbor and headed South toward some common whale feeding grounds. We found one lone humpback whale milling around a small area. One major difference between toothed whales (orcas) and baleen whales (humpback whales) is their social structure. Toothed whales are generally stay in family groups called pods, while baleen whales are mostly solitary but will sometimes pair up for short periods of time, anywhere from a few hours to a week. Usually the paired whales are not genetically related or mating pairs but are just socially bonded for a short period of time before diverging paths. We left the lone humpback and came across a pair of humpback whales. One of those whales is a well-known regular in the area and her name is Heather. We watched those humpback whales surfacing together and got to see some great fluke out dives as well. After getting our humpback fill we headed a little bit further North where we were surprised with not one minke whale but two! We watched as the minke whales created bait balls and were lunge feeding at the surface. Bait balls are when a predator is corralling the small schooling fish up to the surface of the water and birds in the area will come and feed on the fish closest to the surface. Myself and a few other guests got particularly excited when we saw some rhinoceros auklets, a diving species of bird, popping up at the surface with fish in their mouths. It was really cool to see the large amount of fish they could hold their small beaks. They are able to do this because of the small hooks they have on the inside of their mouths. We then went to whales rocks and saw some resting harbor seals as well as a small juvenile Steller’s Sea Lion. On our first trip we were lucky enough to be surprised by 3 swimming Steller’s and two others hanging out on a channel marker. Really fun day out on the water with flat calm conditions, clear skies and awesome wildlife!
See all 16 photos
