Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 8/16/2022 | 2:00 PM
It’s not uncommon for us to begin our trip with zero whale reports, and today was no exception. We always tell our guests that every single day, at every single hour we essentially “start over.” That’s because none of the whales in the Salish Sea are tagged, and we don’t use any type of sonar to find them. We are a part of the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), which is a private network that works organically off eye sighting reports. This is the most respectful and non-invasive way to view wildlife.
Although starting a trip with no set destination is common, that doesn’t mean it’s not nerve wrecking. Especially when we were unsuccessful on our earlier trip that day. When no whales have been spotted, the PWWA members out on the water divide and conquer to cover the most area possible. We then report back our findings.
Our 2:00 PM Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour began by taking a right out of Friday Harbor and heading South down San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to Goose Island, which is a known pelagic cormorant nesting site and a great place to view pinnipeds. We got the opportunity to see some harbor seals sunbathing on the shoreline and swimming in the bull kelp. Before peeling off, Captain Eric informed me that some minke whales were found about 10 minutes south of us in Salmon Bank. Finally, some whales with-in our range!
We spent time with two minke whales who were actively feeding on a bait ball. We were even lucky enough to see one whale lunge feeding! We also got a great look at these two minkes surfacing in unison only a few feet from each other. Minke whales are usually solitary so seeing this was super exciting!
It really can be feast or famine out here sometimes. With-in a half hour we went from zero whales in the area to a report of Minkes, Humpbacks and Killer Whales all with-in our range! After discussing with our passengers, we decided to go for the report of the two Bigg’s killer whales. These whales were found heading up Admiralty Inlet. Friday Harbor to Port Townsend is quite the long haul, but well worth it to see some killer whales.
These two whales are known as T077C “Neftali” (born in 2006) and T077D “Alcyon” (born in 2009). These two juvenile siblings were found traveling together away from mom and the rest of their family. After traveling alongside these whales with consistent surfacing’s, we didn’t see them for a few minutes. The next time we got eyes on them we had one on each side of our vessel. The whale to our starboard side surfaced with-in the mandated 200-yard viewing range. Therefore, we turned off our engine to let it pass by and this whale ended up swimming right under our boat!
We ended our epic adventure by cruising by Smith Island to view some Tufted Puffins and made one last stop at Whale Rocks to say hello to some Steller’s Sea Lions. We really went from 0 to 100 real quick!!