Jaded??

2 whales for the price of one!

With the amazing season we have been having, I am not sure what it is going to take for me to think, "This is the best, yet!"?  Today was another good day of whale watching - I would go so far as to call it a fine day.  After seeing two greeting ceremonies this year, and the absolute "breach fest" yesterday... well, I hope I am not getting jaded about any opportunity to see these magnificent animals.

We departed right on time.  There were whales to the north and whales to the south.  Again, the "chess game" of which move to I make to get to the best viewing?  The last report I received as I was heading out of the harbor let me know there were more whales to the south, but the leaders (including Granny and Onyx) of J-Pod were to the north.  I decided to go north, at the last minute.

On the way out of the harbor, I saw this boat...

Yeah, that's the way to do it - their boat is be enough to take the scooter along!

Out of the harbor, I put the coals to it.  I estimated I would be on the scene in about 45 minutes, which would give us plenty of viewing options.  As I came over the top of San Juan Island, I received an update which put the leaders a few miles north of their last location... they were on the move, and this decision to go north should be good.

When I was nearly out of Spieden Channel, I got a call from our Roche Harbor boat that they had just spotted a humpback whale near Battleship Island... about 2 minutes from where we were!  We were next on the scene there...

We were treated to some nice views of the humpback, and the Orcas were only a few miles away.  I was surprised that there weren't more boats in either spot, but as we left the area with the humpback, other boats in our network were moving in there, fast.

While waiting for the humpback to surface after a deep dive, I took this photo of this cute little red boat going by Battleship Island...

Once in the area with the leaders in J-Pod, I set us up with a good view of Granny (J-2) and Onyx (L-87)...

The Orcas were on the move, so I didn't have time for other photos.  We stayed with this group for about 40 minutes, then moved closer inshore to see others.  This was a great day of whale viewing, but it will be hard to top yesterday.  We stayed with the inshore group until we were past Turn Point on Stuart Island...

We took the scenic route home: through John's Pass, between the Cactus Islands, and around the eastern side of Spieden Island.  In the Cactus Islands, we saw three bald eagles in a tree, then another couple, and then two more in a "fly by."  Some mighty fine eagle viewing, too!

This was our Friday - a nice way to finish off our work week.  After a nice home-cooked meal with friends Bill and Colleen at their house, and plenty of spirited conversation, we headed back to Wild Blue.  I'm looking forward to some scoot-time with our days off... not strapped to the back of our boat, though.  ;-)