Some days the whales are close, some days they are far away. And, some days they just aren't out there, where you can find them. Today was one of the close days.
I was driving the Roche Harbor boat today. During the safety talk, I let the guests know that I didn't have a whale report... yet. We had some very nice folks onboard - a group of 11 celebrating a 50th anniversary, another group there for a wedding tomorrow (but not the wedding party), some folks from the UK, from Arizona, and Chicago... yes, it was a diverse group, all hoping to see whales.
We shoved off from the dock and weren't out of the harbor when we got our first report: they were in Presidents Channel, heading for Spieden Channel... and heading right for us! My last trip was a long one - this would be very different. We were on the whales within 15 minutes... it was J-Pod and they were closely grouped. And active! Several breaches, a couple spy hops, some porpoising, tail-slaps, and a pectoral wave! All within the first few minutes. And, there were just a couple boats on them.
The sky was mostly cloudy when we left the dock, and started to break off about the same time I got the whale report. Good karma! Truly a "Chamber of Commerce Day." This is what people talk about when they talk about whale watching here.
The lady who was half of the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary said, "Thank you - this is the perfect anniversary gift!'
Wish I could take the credit... thank J-Pod!
We tracked along with them across the north side of San Juan Island, past Battleship Island, then down the west side of the island. By this point, there were more boats and the whales had separated in to several spread out groups. We were traveling with the group that had Mike (J-26), a big male... and people like to see that big ol' dorsal fin. They also picked up speed as they moved into Haro Strait.
We eventually broke off from the whales, did some scenic touring, then found a good group of seals with some fresh pups and a half dozen bald eagles to cap off the trip. In glorious sunshine.
On the way back in, a shot of naturalist Mike taking a photo for some of the guests...
Nice day on the water.
2 comments:
As usual, you're the MAN Jim!!! That's why you make the BIG bucks!!! ;-}
Very jealous. Very hot and humid in OKC. AND the a/c is on the fritz at the office building. Want to trade offices???
Ah, Mark... having the "office view" I have is what brings me back... don't think I'm ready to swap that, just yet. It was cool today while taking one of our boats out for a shake-down trip... gorgeous sunshine, but the water temp is still in the upper 40s; you feel that when running at 20 knots. Then, you get to sweat a bit when you get back to the harbor. I wasn't sure I remembered how to sweat, but it came back to me pretty quick while working on the boat. ;-)
Back with guests and some crew training tomorrow. It is supposed to be another beautiful day. And, it's always cooler out on the water!
Post a Comment