Sunday 15th June

A two whale day!

The morning trip headed out with Captain Brad and marine naturalists Tim and Sean in the search for whales. We hadn’t got any report of orcas and so it was up to us to get out there and find them. We headed east to San Juan Isand then south along the west coast of the island down to Hein Bank where we sometimes see baleen whales feeding in this shallower body of water. Captain Brad’s keen eye then spotted a small hook-like dorsal fin. Boom! We had a minke whale! The minke whale is the smallest of the baleen whales and comes to our waters to feed during the summer months. There are believed to be only 8 or 9 of these elusive creatures found within the waters of the Salish Sea so to be able to see them is pretty lucky, especially as they are sometimes referred to as the “slinky minkes”. We were the only boat out there and the keen eyes of our crew and passengers meant we were able to spot this creature everytime it surfaced and were able to get some unbelievable pass-bys. It was just luck that passengers could get a great look at this mysticete as it’s often the case that you see a minke then you don’t. A photo of a minke is somewhat of a rare thing as their surfacing is very unpredictable, but every passenger on board this morning was able to get one. What a great morning trip.

The sunny afternoon trip headed out with an almost full Pacific Explorer and upon leaving the harbour we had gotten a report of a group of 4 transient killer whales (the mammal-eaters) heading east in the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Upon arrival on scene we were able to identify them as the T30’s, which are a family group of mother and her 3 offspring, the oldest being a male with an almost 6ft dorsal fin, and the youngest a calf of less than 2 years old. We followed this family of delphinids as they went into resting mode (equivalent of the human sleeping mode where the orca shuts off one hemisphere of their brain at a time). It was awesome to be able to see them all so close together, and with the snow capped mountains of the Olympic Peninsula in the background of each photo, it really made for some ‘National Geographic’’worth photos, and some extremely satisfied passengers. I even snapped a few photos for my own personal memories! (See photo below). ‘Twas an awesome trip that’s for sure!