The San Juan Islands are becoming more and more known for their humpbacks whales every day. What was a non-existent population a mere 14 years ago, the Salish Sea now has a stable population of over 45 humpback whales every summer. And today, we saw one such whale!
The Sea Hawk charted its course eastward from Roche Harbor today, taking a charming inter-island tour on our way to a humpback whale report in Rosario Strait. We drove past Orcas Island in full, getting beautiful views of Deer Harbor, East Sound, and even Rosario Resort. We turned north towards Lummi Island, heading towards where this whale was last reported. When we arrived on scene, the whale had switched directions and was heading towards us!
We navigated the Sea Hawk around the whale’s path of travel, orienting ourselves alongside it. We observed this massive, 50-foot animal as it surfaced and dove in a zig-zag pattern, indicating some deep-water food scouring. These animals have to eat 1 ton of food daily just to maintain their 50 ton body weight!
After getting some excellent looks at this humpback whale, we headed back on our little island tour before returning to Roche Harbor just as the sun started peaking out from behind the clouds.
