The sun was shining as we left the harbor and headed south toward Cattle Pass. A few of the seals hauled out on the rocks lazily lifted their heads to give us a quick glance before returning to their afternoon nap. A river otter scampered down the shoreline and slid into the water, quickly disappearing below the glassy surface. A hand full of Steller Sea Lions were rolling around in the pass, floating and lifting their flippers into the air. They too seemed to be enjoying the sunshine, lazing about.
Once we got around the corner off of South Beach we saw a diminutive fin pop up in the distance. Certainly not an Orca. We drew closer and had the privilege of seeing a small Minke Whale lift his head to the surface and then slowly roll back under. He surfaced 3 more times and then took a longer dive. We waited about 10 minutes before he surfaced again about a quarter mile away from us. We idled forward in the direction of his last surfacing and saw him come up once more about 250 yards from our boat. It was a great Minke sighting. The smooth, calm water made it easy to see the elusive cetacean. It was one of the best Mike encounters I have had.
The weather was so beautiful that we did a circumnavigation of San Juan Island, coming back along the south coast of Speiden to catch a quick look at a few deer and sheep. We saw a bald eagle sitting a top a tree and then watched Harbor Porpoises pop up here and there all the way back to the harbor.
Laura, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris