The early reports put them quite a ways north, but heading south. A half hour before our departure, they were within pretty easy range. By the time we shoved off, we met up with them in Haro Strait as they were heading south. J-Pod seemed to be on a mission, judging by the way they were moving... 7 to 8 knots at times.
There was a group of leaders, a gap, and then the rest... all moving at a good pace. Our timing was good, putting us with the leaders, and we were able to sit for a while and let the rest of the pod pass by - my favorite way to view. Our guests were enjoying the activity...
When I let everyone know that "these will be our last looks," we turned north to look for eagles and take in some pretty scenery. One of the female whales had other ideas...
That is a "hole in the water" where a whale was just a second before - quite close to our boat. Shut down, we waited for her to get a safe distance away, then started up and continued north. We were treated to a bald eagle diving down to catch a fish... yes, you see it all the time on the Discovery Channel, but it isn't something we see all that often. The fish was obviously heavy - the eagle worked hard to get to a lower branch on a tree on the nearby shore. Running by the north side of Spieden island, we saw several Fallow Deer... then a few more... about 15 total; an unusual sight on the north side of that island.
The weather was gorgeous, the water was nearly calm - another great day to be on the water in the San Juan Islands.
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Last night and this morning, we got to visit with our C-Dory friends, Patrick and Kim; and their new furry family member: a blonde Golden Retriever named Sunshine. I'm sorry to say that the normally sweet Isabella hissed and snarled at Sunshine; probably because we invited the 3 of them to join us in the cockpit of Wild Blue. Izzy was "standing her ground." Sunshine was very sweet about it. I apologized for Izzy's lack of hospitality.
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