What a day. If I go into every detail this blog could be of epic proportions. I'll try to reign it in a little bit and we'll see what happens.
It all stated with the nicest, warmest day of the year; the first day I have worn a t-shirt without several other layers over and under it (and that lasted until we picked up speed). Toward Cattle pass we could see Mt Ranier, tall, majestic, snow covered, and over 100 miles away. We headed out toward the Straight of Juan de Fuca on glassy, calm water. Behind us Mt Baker was illuminated as though from the heavens. We continued on toward Victoria. It was a perfect day for a nice, long drive.
After an hour of eye-straining binocular use a blow appeared in the distance. A large, dark body rose to the surface. We continued on in the direction we were headed. As we drew closer we could see that this was one of our more infrequent visitors. It was an animal I knew very well. My old friend the humpback whale. My second sighting of the season, the solitary giant was taking slow, frequent breaths at the surface. The first fluke up dive brought a hushed cheer from the enraptured group. Knowing the humpback's penchant for lengthy dives I started to explain the incredible breath holding abilities of the species. Just then, as if to prove me wrong, the whale surfaced. More slow breaths and then another dive. Again the whale surfaced relatively soon after the dive. We stayed until the next dive and then turned back to begin our long drive home. On the way back in we spotted another black body at the surface. This time there was no visible exhalation, which could only mean...minke. Species number two. As we were moving in for a better look a second Minke surfaced about 200 yards off our starboard side. Surprise minke! Just when the day couldn't get any better we spotted a pair of stellar's sea lions hauled out on a buoy and a pair of bald eagles sitting on a rock near another pair of HUGE steller's. We returned a little bit late, but ecstatic from out epic day on the water.
Laura, naturalist