Whale Watching Report

We had a fantastic day out on the water today. The weather was perfect, and we started out spotting a gray whale just south of the naval air station on Whidbey Island. He was feeding in shallow water again today. At one point he raised his head high out of the water, and another time he swam on his side showing us his tail fluke and pectoral fin. After the gray whale we headed toward Partridge Bank and Captain Michael spotted a minke whale from a distance. We moved in, and soon realized that we had two minke whales nearby. They gave us a great show, coming close to the boat and coming up to breathe with their heads high out of the water on many occasions, all with Mount Rainier as a backdrop. Pretty soon a third minke whale surfaced and we had three minke whales to keep track of! It was hard to leave them because they gave us such a great show, but we wanted to take a look at Smith and Minor Islands too. As we approached those islands Michael spotted yet another minke whale. We also found 3 tufted puffins, and 3 bald eagles out there. Other wildlife spotted today included harbor seals, harbor porpoises, harlequin ducks, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, pelagic cormorants, California sea lions, and a great blue heron. What a great day! Naturalist Bart Rulon