Perfect, warm, and sunny day today in Friday Harbor barely even a breeze in the air. The lack of wind makes it quite warm in Friday Harbor but we knew that it meant good things for our trip. Captain Jim took us north on the Kittiwake to catch up with some whales that were also heading north in Haro Strait. We caught up with them at Kellet Bluff on Henry Island. We got reports from some of the other boats that we were viewing the entire K pod, which is 19 whales. They were very spread out and foraging, the whales were literally spread out the entire Haro Strait from San Juan Island to the Canadian Gulf Islands. We got to spend some quality time with the K13s, which is one of my favorite matriarchal lines because they have unique saddle patches that are fairly easy to identify. The saddle patch is a whitish, grey marking that is just below the dorsal fin on the whales back that is used like the whales "finger print."
We left the whales and headed home through the Cactus Islands and got to spot a few harbor seals, harbor porpoise and even a mating pair of bald eagles. Beautiful day for a boat cruise in the San Juan Islands.
Naturalist Chelsea
M/V Kittiwake
San Juan Safaris