Jordan | July 24, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 trip
What a fantastic day out on the water! As the sun went down, the hot day cooled off a bit and made our ride incredibly pleasant as the sun cast picturesque shadows across the landscape. Captain Pete and I heard reports of whales down on the southwest side of San Juan Island.
So, we headed south through the San Juan Channel, past Cattle Point lighthouse and headed into the Salmon Bank where we found a small group of Southern Resident whales! There were four members of J pod sprinting out towards the open waters of the Juan de Fuca Strait. Amongst these whales was a huge male bounding between the waves which was really entertaining to watch as his six-foot dorsal fin wobbled in the wind!
Eventually, Captain Pete wanted to pursue whales in calmer waters closer to the island so we turned around and headed toward False Bay. Here, we found a few more groups of J pod swimming around and catching salmon! We saw the whales splashing and slapping their tails and waving their pectoral fins. We even saw a full body breach!
But then suddenly, the whales turned and headed straight towards our boat! Pete immediately turned off our engine and our boat was just like a floating log in the water. There was one youngster whale who was really curious about our boat and came really close as he turned on his side and looked up at us! Then his mother came after him and herded him away from us as they joined the rest of the whales traveling southeast. Our guests were so incredibly excited to see these amazing animals so up close and personal.
Eventually we headed back to Friday Harbor, very satisfied with a fantastic day.