The M/V Kittywake left Friday Harbor this afternoon in search of an elusive Minke out in Griffin Bay! We soon caught up with the small whale feeding on sand lance, krill, and small schools of herring right off of San Juan Island. The Minke gave us lots of great views surfacing many times, giving our guests some great photography moments. It's always a great day when we start off seeing whales ten minuets into our trip!
After we left the Minke Whale to continue foraging, we saw some Harbor Porpoise surfacing in the distance as well as Harbor Seals forging in the tidal up-welling zones. The Harbor Seals quickly surrounded our boat, peering up at us with their large eyes (which makes them look so endearing)! While we moved away from them, one Seal emerged with a large salmon in his mouth!
Of course, the best part of the trip on M/V Kittywake was when we got on seen with our Southern Resident Orcas. L-Pod was still off the West side of the Island foraging on the Chinook Salmon. We got some great views of Mystery and Wave Walker (L-85 & L-88), or large male Orcas. All in all, it was a great day out on the water with everything from Sea Lions to Orca whales seen by all of our guests! I can't wait to get out there tomorrow!
Heather, Naturalist, M/V Kittywake
San Juan Safaris