A sail with J pod, a humpback and a minke

August 30, 2019 – As we cast off there was heavy fog to the south. There were many wispy ribbons hanging low over Lopez Island as we crossed the channel to hug the Lopez shoreline down to Cattle Pass. The harbor seals were resting all over their favorite rocks and the steller sea lions were out and about goofing around at Whale Rocks.

It was great having the Southern Resident killer whales from J Pod foraging and socializing off the west side of San Juan Island. As we sailed the area we were able to catch glimpses of the orca as they traveled in a southerly direction in loose groups. J31 with newest calf, J56, passed by in a playful group. Some of the big boys, J26, J27, J39 were off foraging by themselves.

There were several tight groups of orca heading down the shoreline including the J16’s continuing south from False Bay. Listening to orca exhales as they surfaced in the distance was awesome.

As we continued our journey we cruised over Salmon Bank and down to Iceberg Point to see the humpback whale whose been hanging around that area for about a week. We confirmed the ID of the humpback as MMX0006. As we were watching the humpback, a minke whale surfaced several times near him. This minke may be the same one who has been reported hanging out with the humpback lately – we saw them together once before.

It was a wonderful day on the water. Beautiful seas and gorgeous conditions.