We went whale watching on the Island Explorer 3.
It was a 5 hour adventure that was fun and informative. The crew was great and made sure Elena had a good time.
Yes, we saw whales!
And Dall's Porpoise!
It was a 5 hour adventure that was fun and informative. The crew was great and made sure Elena had a good time.
Yes, we saw whales!
And Dall's Porpoise!
We saw lots of other wildlife too. Who better to narrate our day than Kate the Naturalist on our boat. Here's her whale watching report for Friday, September 26, 2008:
Dall's Porpoise Pretend to be the Southern Resident Orcas!!
"Our day started on one incredible note!! We not only had a couple of Harbor Seals biding for the same rock to haul out on, right outside the marina, but we also have a mature Bald Eagle peering down at us from atop Cap Sante Point!! This all happened within minutes of departing the dock!! Entering into Rosario Strait we found some very surface active Harbor Porpoise, a handful of Marbled Murreletts swimming side-by-side, and an entire colony of Double-crested Cormorants on Birds Rocks!! The Island Explorer 3 ventured into the shallow waters near Colville Island where we found another Bald Eagle, this time perched on top of wildlife refuge sign posted on its shores!! Just below a few Harbor Seals were warming up on the rocky outcroppings, while up on the island we saw 12 Turkey Vultures just sitting and over 30 flying off in the distance over Lopez Island!! As we made our way through the Strait of Juan de Fuca a group of Dall's Porpoise bombarded the boat- seemingly having a great time bow riding as we cruised at 13 knots!! Some of our guests even got sprayed as they surfaced for a quick exhalation!! They carried on playing alongside the boat for at least 10 minutes leading us right to the Orca Whales!!! We first encountered Blackberry (J27) cruising southward before he turned back for a closer inspection of the boat!! We watched as this young 17 year old male worked for a salmon before having some fun with his smaller relative the Dall's Porpoise who decided to try "bow riding" on his rostrum!! A very rare sight!!! The one Dall's Porpoise hung out with Blackberry before trying out another whale before returning again! It wasn't long before Blackberry's attention was diverted from the porpoise to a female Orca!! Their quick direction and behavior change took us off guard and with our engines off we watched as they broke the surface right off our stern in some x-rated activity!! They lingered under the surface close enough we could see their white portions as their bodies fused under the water!! Witnessing the creation of possibly the next generation of Orcas is something quite special!! Our adventure wasn't over we had some great looks at Ruffles (J1) as he gracefully surfaced and a female with her calf even ventured over for a close encounter!! WHAT A DAY!!! After saying our goodbye's to the Orcas we took the scenic route through the inner islands!!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes
"Our day started on one incredible note!! We not only had a couple of Harbor Seals biding for the same rock to haul out on, right outside the marina, but we also have a mature Bald Eagle peering down at us from atop Cap Sante Point!! This all happened within minutes of departing the dock!! Entering into Rosario Strait we found some very surface active Harbor Porpoise, a handful of Marbled Murreletts swimming side-by-side, and an entire colony of Double-crested Cormorants on Birds Rocks!! The Island Explorer 3 ventured into the shallow waters near Colville Island where we found another Bald Eagle, this time perched on top of wildlife refuge sign posted on its shores!! Just below a few Harbor Seals were warming up on the rocky outcroppings, while up on the island we saw 12 Turkey Vultures just sitting and over 30 flying off in the distance over Lopez Island!! As we made our way through the Strait of Juan de Fuca a group of Dall's Porpoise bombarded the boat- seemingly having a great time bow riding as we cruised at 13 knots!! Some of our guests even got sprayed as they surfaced for a quick exhalation!! They carried on playing alongside the boat for at least 10 minutes leading us right to the Orca Whales!!! We first encountered Blackberry (J27) cruising southward before he turned back for a closer inspection of the boat!! We watched as this young 17 year old male worked for a salmon before having some fun with his smaller relative the Dall's Porpoise who decided to try "bow riding" on his rostrum!! A very rare sight!!! The one Dall's Porpoise hung out with Blackberry before trying out another whale before returning again! It wasn't long before Blackberry's attention was diverted from the porpoise to a female Orca!! Their quick direction and behavior change took us off guard and with our engines off we watched as they broke the surface right off our stern in some x-rated activity!! They lingered under the surface close enough we could see their white portions as their bodies fused under the water!! Witnessing the creation of possibly the next generation of Orcas is something quite special!! Our adventure wasn't over we had some great looks at Ruffles (J1) as he gracefully surfaced and a female with her calf even ventured over for a close encounter!! WHAT A DAY!!! After saying our goodbye's to the Orcas we took the scenic route through the inner islands!!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes
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