We left Roche Harbor this morning and headed out to find some whales. It was a good day for 'em! Just as we were coming around Henry Island at the north end of San Juan Island we heard one of the whale watching boats nearby talking about K-dubs (radio code for killer whales) on the radio. We could see this boat (and the orcas) with the new Fuji binoculars (wow, was THAT ever a useful addition to Airship's accessories…will show you in another post), so we headed over toward the growing group of whale watching boats.
After watching the orcas from a distance for a while, we heard another nearby boat talking about some HBs (secret code for humpbacks) a little to the north, so we headed up there (with all the other boats).
It's quite a bit more fun when you just happen to come across whales as you're going about your cruise, but this was still pretty cool. The boats mostly stay a good distance from the whales (I know it doesn't look like it in this long lens/compressed distance shot above), but it definitely has a different feel when there are 10 boats covered in people watching with you.
It WAS pretty adorable when the new boat that showed up right before we left saw the humpback's tail for the first time and the whole boat cheered and screamed in glee.
There were two humpbacks traveling together, but only one would show its tail as it surfaced.
We continued down the west side of San Juan Island but didn't see anything else besides porpoises and seals.
We are now at Watmough Bay at the south end of Lopez Island. Here's our track from today (37.98 nautical miles):
Great photos and narrative.
Thanks Allison!
So exciting and fun. Thanks for the post.