It was humpback whales galore today near Friday Harbor. We saw one humpback whale just outside of the harbor in San Juan Channel. We then decided to head south and stop to see some harbor seals and Steller’s sea lions at whale rocks. Steller’s spend their summers on the coast and up in Alaska for their breeding season, but this time of year we still see some juveniles that like to hang around. We then got another report of a second humpback whale a little further south of San Juan Island. After getting some good looks at the humpback whale we decided to head North and look for an elusive Minke whale. Low and behold we found one and even got an amazing look at it! Minke whales are our only true residential whales in the Salish Sea. It was a beautiful sunny day out on the water and our guests were thrilled with the summer weather and wildlife.
Naturalist Rachel