Humpback whale BCX1358 "Frankenstein" passes Friday Harbor

June 17, 2020 – Once again we received an early morning report of a humpback coming down San Juan Channel towards Friday Harbor. We cast off with some friends to see who it was. Exiting the harbor we began scanning north and south. As we drifted quietly we heard the loud exhale of the humpback surfacing right in front of Friday Harbor. After obtaining a photo of the tail fluke we were able to recognize it as one we’ve seen before – BCX1358 “Frankenstein”. The whale was swimming south fighting the flood current surfacing with 1-3 breaths before going on a deep dive with an average dive of 9 minutes. It was a really nice treat seeing this humpback for the first time this year.

We decided to set sail again after hearing about a pod of orcas (T46B’s) off South Beach on the southwest side of San Juan Island. The group had been milling for approximately two hours before turning north on the strong flood tide. Just as we were approaching the scene the orcas were lost and we scanned to find them. Friends on shore alerted us that there were orcas moving quickly up island so we scooted along to catch up. The orcas headed west from Lime Kiln across towards Kelp Reef continuing at speed into Canadian waters (unfortunately, we’re not allowed to cross due to border closures related to Covid-19). Also on the Canadian side by D’arcy Island we saw the blows of a humpback whale in the distance.

For the first time this year we spotted some Dalls porpoise and a very cute bald eagle chick in the nest with one of its parents on Henry Island.