On the same small island, there were a whole bunch of cormorants. They took off when our boat passed them...
And then it got even worse! We hit fog that let us see, well, NOTHING! It was incredibly dense. After a while the eerie quietness was disturbed by the repeated blows of fog horns. Our skipper slowed, and not long after we saw a ferry appearing out of nowhere. It reminded me of scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean, where a ghost ship appears out of the fog! I was sure, however, that this was really just a ferry in the fog, and not a ghost ship!
The fog lastet for a while, and suddenly it broke off - we left the bank of dense fog. We even got some sun! And, not long after we could see some spouts in the distance - ORCAS! Getting closer, we realised that this was a large pod. There were groups of orcas in three directions of the boat. YAHOO! Please forgive my excitement, but I just love orcas, and I couldn't resist to post a number of photos here. They might look all the same to you, but to me they are just a memory of an amazing encounter!
Spyhopping
Lobtailing
Double Spyhopping ;-)
This research vessel was out there for most of the time as well. The funny - and almost unvelievable - story is that the dog is kind of a sniffer dog. It smells the poo of orcas, which the scientists then collect and examine. I wonder how a dog is being trained for orca poo!!!???
The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) was there as well. They hung around in a bit of a distance for the whole time when whale watching boats were present, making sure that the boats followed the "Whale Wise Guidelines" and the Marine Mammal Protetcion Act, which, among other things, does not allow approaches closer than 100 yards. If operators breach these rules, the WDFW can (and does) ticket them.
A very special treat today was L111 (following photos), a newborn female orca baby (born 12. August 2008). She and her mother Marina (L47) stuck around our boat for quiet some time. Magnificent! The Center for Whale Research will give L111 a "real" name soon. Click here for the Orca Sightings Network.
Now, what a treat was this day? After one tour without any orcas, and this tour with a start in really poor weather conditions, finally we had so many orcas. What I liked a lot about the tour operator was that they didn't even try to keep to the schedule. We found the orcas relatively late in the tour, and at far distance to Bellingham (actually, we were south of San Juan Island, and almost in Victoria!). They allowed us to stay with the orcas for over an hour, which meant that we would be back later than scheduled. It turned out that the six hour trip became a full eight hour trip. Suits me well :)
And, as with the last trip, here the log of Island Mariner Cruises:
Friday, August 29th; Another superpod!
We headed out of Bellingham Bay and as we were underway, we heard that the whales were westbound. This never bodes well with us, because it means that they can keep going west and get out of our reach (as well as any other whale watching boat). We headed out to Haro Strait anyway, looking at not much but a big fog bank surrounding us. We took the scenic route through the middle of the islands, but there wasn't much to view with the fog. When we reached the south end of San Juan Channel, the fog lifted, the sun was shining and we were able to see Heerman's Gulls, Glaucous Wing Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls, Cormorants, Rhinocerous Auklets, Pigeon Guillemotts, and the newly arrived Red Neck Phalaropes! When we got out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, there were numerous Common Murres, more than I've seen in a couple of years. The whales had decided to head east towards us! It was all three pods! We had to go southwest all the way to Hein Bank, but it was worth it. The whales came by the boat, and then we just drifted along watching cartwheels, breaches, spyhops, tail slaps and backflips! They were pretty spread out and heading to the west shore of San Juan Island. We watched for an hour and a half. Then as we were getting ready to leave, Marina L47, brought her new calf right alongside the boat. It was born on 12, 2008. Marina also has a yearling granddaughter in her family group. She used to look so tiny, but not now next to the newborn! We took the most scenic route back and this time everyone could see the beautiful islands because the fog had lifted and the sun was shining. Comments: "I wanted to know more about the nature of the San Juan Islands and the whales and Victoria's knowledge is way beyond my expectations." " We liked the layout of the boat - great for viewing, great for relaxing. Kid's books, movies, thank you!" And this is what we love to hear: "This was a one time opportunity for us. It was wonderful!" We love to be able to share this experience with our passengers, especially the ones who will only have this one time to see the whales!
And, as with the last trip, here the log of Island Mariner Cruises:
Friday, August 29th; Another superpod!
We headed out of Bellingham Bay and as we were underway, we heard that the whales were westbound. This never bodes well with us, because it means that they can keep going west and get out of our reach (as well as any other whale watching boat). We headed out to Haro Strait anyway, looking at not much but a big fog bank surrounding us. We took the scenic route through the middle of the islands, but there wasn't much to view with the fog. When we reached the south end of San Juan Channel, the fog lifted, the sun was shining and we were able to see Heerman's Gulls, Glaucous Wing Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls, Cormorants, Rhinocerous Auklets, Pigeon Guillemotts, and the newly arrived Red Neck Phalaropes! When we got out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, there were numerous Common Murres, more than I've seen in a couple of years. The whales had decided to head east towards us! It was all three pods! We had to go southwest all the way to Hein Bank, but it was worth it. The whales came by the boat, and then we just drifted along watching cartwheels, breaches, spyhops, tail slaps and backflips! They were pretty spread out and heading to the west shore of San Juan Island. We watched for an hour and a half. Then as we were getting ready to leave, Marina L47, brought her new calf right alongside the boat. It was born on 12, 2008. Marina also has a yearling granddaughter in her family group. She used to look so tiny, but not now next to the newborn! We took the most scenic route back and this time everyone could see the beautiful islands because the fog had lifted and the sun was shining. Comments: "I wanted to know more about the nature of the San Juan Islands and the whales and Victoria's knowledge is way beyond my expectations." " We liked the layout of the boat - great for viewing, great for relaxing. Kid's books, movies, thank you!" And this is what we love to hear: "This was a one time opportunity for us. It was wonderful!" We love to be able to share this experience with our passengers, especially the ones who will only have this one time to see the whales!
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