Holy cow this weekend was busy! Remember what we said about things filling up last minute and getting busy fast? Sunday was the busiest and hottest day so far this summer! There were three half-day trips out on the water in the afternoon. And they were all full! In addition to that, we had a full morning whale-watch and an afternoon private charter.
Captain Brian and Naturalist Kevin had a real treat and were able to see 10 Minke whales! There are only about 17 known Minkes that reside in the waters surrounding San Juan Island. Minkes are very curious…especially the juveniles! They are the second smallest baleen whale and only get to about 32 feet long. That still seems pretty big, but in comparison to the largest baleen whale, the Blue Whale (100+ feet), Minkes are little squirts! All 10 Minkes surfaced near the boat and were feeding by scooping up huge balls of little fish. Amazing!
Our guests on our private afternoon charter went out with us the previous day, so they decided to focus more on the other amazing wildlife we find on in the greater San Juan Island area. Captain Brian and Naturalist Kevin took them toward Turn Point on Stuart Island to observe our Peregrine Falcon fledglings. They found them hopping along the shoreline. Apparently, the little ones were giving their wings a break! The water stays very deep next to Turn Point (near 600 feet deep!), so Capt. Brian was able to maneuver the Sea Hawk so close to the rocky cliff side that our guests were able to reach out and touch Stuart Island. When they looked down into the water, they saw hundreds of purple ochre starfish clinging to the rocks. Naturalist Kevin said it was his best wildlife tour ever!
Currently, our Captain Brian and Naturalist Tiffany are on the water and they are with the whales as I’m writing this. Ks and Js are along the west side of Henry Island, so all of our half-day & full-day kayak trips are seeing whales! Capt. Brian also reported that our guests got another awesome view of new calf, K44. Can you believe he’s already about 3 weeks old?
Be sure to check out Facebook page later for updates from kayak guides Nick & Michael, who are on the water seeing the whales!