Departed at low tide and headed south through Cattle Pass. There was word of Minke's and J-pod out towards Port Townsend. On the drive out we saw lots of Gulls feeding in bait, which is a good sign for whales. We arrived on scene about an hour after departing the harbor. As we slowly approached the area where the Orca had last been spotted a Minke whale took a breath straight off our bow! It surprised everyone. While we were still catching our breathes from the Minke encounter the passengers began seeing smaller blows all around us. J-pod was well spread out and seemed to be feeding. Gulls and Auklets swarmed the bait that was being pushed to the surface by the feeding orca. After about 20 minutes or so of feeding the birds seemed to disappear and J-pod began to move in a more steady direction towards the west side of San Juan Island.
On the trip home we used some passengers photos to positively ID Riptide out of the group. The passengers couldn't have been happier with the Minke and the Orca, but to top things off we found a pair of nesting Eagles, a couple of Steller Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks, and even some charismatic Harbor Porpoise in the channel on the way home!
Mike - Naturalist
San Juan Safaris