Leaving Friday Harbor we headed towards the west side of San Juan Island where, Captain Mike and myself, met up with a few members of L Pod. We were able to cruise up the west side of the island and get great looks at some of the mature males of L Pod such as Mega, Solstice, Mystery, Skana, and Spirit! The west side is an excellent region to spot Orcas because of the high density of salmon coming through that area.
On our way back towards Friday Harbor we took a small detour over Salmon Bank where we also spotted a lone Minke whale! Although these whales can often times be pretty quick to disappear because of their non-fluking behavior and impressive speeds, we were able to get 3 great looks at this whale when it surfaced near our vessel.
If getting great looks at these two different types of whales wasn't enough, we also got to enjoy whale watching with great weather! Blue skies galore! Hoping the next few days are as awesome as today.
Caitlin, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris