Jordan | July 31, 2018 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 trip
It was quite the windy day out on the water today! Starting in the north end of San Juan Island out of Roche Harbor, Captain Pete and I headed south down the west side of the island to look for whales! It was pretty rough traveling in the Sea Hawk against white capping waves, but my guests enjoyed the roller coaster ride!
As we approached the south point of San Juan just outside of the Salmon Bank, we found our whales! In fact, we found the entire J pod! J pod is our most beloved group of Southern Resident Whales that are found within the Salish Sea. Every which way we looked, we saw whales. They were swimming around everywhere bouncing through the waves.
Then we saw a huge male swim really close to our boat! It was Blackberry! He was accompanied by a few of his sisters as they hunted salmon just a few feet from our boat! It was quite fantastic! They seemed to be completely oblivious to our vessel as they carried on hunting and playing and eating. Their beauty was mystifying and truly awe-inspiring.
We were able to identify individuals but comparing their unique dorsal fins to the photo identification catalogue that we use to keep track of the whales. Each dorsal fin is actually as unique as a human thumb print!
Eventually we had to turn around and head back towards Roche Harbor. But even as we headed back, we saw whale after whale jumping through the waters all around our boat. We saw a few breaches out in the distance as it became an I-spy game of trying to find all the whales.