August 12, 2022 – We traveled as fast as we could on the ebb current out of Cattle Pass to catch up with a gray whale who was also traveling fast – roughly 9-10 knots. As the whale got closer to Salmon Bank it slowed down and we finally got some really nice looks at the whale. Our first gray whale sighting of the year! It was really small – and appeared thin in our photos. We sent our photos to Cascadia Research Collective to see if they had any insights on this whale. They responded to our email and said it wasn’t an animal they recognized, and it looks like it could be emaciated but hard to judge for sure. The whale was headed south and that worked out nicely for us to sail parallel before branching off to head to Smith Island. Here we found over a dozen tufted puffins. It was our first visit to Smith Island all year and the puffins were scattered all over the place and so easy to find. It was spectacular spotting these colorful, beautiful birds. On our way back we crossed over MacArthur Bank and onto Salmon Bank. We got to see three different minke whales on Salmon Bank – one of which came right towards us and we could see it swimming underwater. It was pretty epic. There wasn’t any foraging observed. After we left the minke whales we checked out the Steller sea lions on Whale Rocks and spotted a brown pelican on the rocks behind them. A spectacular day!
Bald eagle
View of Olympic Mountains over San Juan Island
Harbor seals
Gray whale surfacing (unfortunately it looks emaciated in the photo)
Gray whale right side
Gray whale tail flukes
Gray whale tail flukes (top side)
Gray whale tail flukes (top side)
Gray whale tail flukes
Gray whale tail flukes
Gray whale tail flukes (bottom side)
Absolutely stunning !
Gray whale surfacing
Gray whale right side
Gray whale right side
Gray whale tail flukes
Mt Baker
Gray whale surfacing
Gray whale headed south
Gray whale deep dive with tail in the air
Incredible day!
Gray whale with Mt Baker
Gray whale knuckles on spinal ridge
Gray whale knuckles on spinal ridge
Gray whale tail flukes
Gray whale tail flukes
Gray whale tail flukes (underside)
Gray whale tail flukes (underside)
Gray whale left side
Gray whale with Olympic Mountains
Rhinoceros auklet and Tufted puffin near Smith Island
Tufted puffin near Smith Island
Tufted puffin near Smith Island
Tufted puffins near Smith Island
Tufted puffin near Smith Island
Tufted puffin with beak full of fish
Tufted puffin with beak full of fish
Smith Island
Tufted puffin north of Smith Island
Tufted puffin north of Smith Island
Tufted puffins north of Smith Island
Tufted puffins
Tufted puffins
Tufted puffins with Mt Baker
Tufted puffin
Common murre
Fried egg jellyfish
Minke whale on Salmon Bank
Minke whale on Salmon Bank with Olympic Mountains
Distant Minke whale on Salmon Bank with Olympic Mountains
Distant Minke whale on Salmon Bank with Olympic Mountains
Minke whale on Salmon Bank with Olympic Mountains
Minke whale on Salmon Bank with Olympic Mountains
Minke whale on Salmon Bank with Olympic Mountains
Minke whale headed towards us
Minke whale headed towards us
Minke whale headed towards us
Minke whale headed towards us
Minke whale surfacing sequence
Minke whale surfacing sequence
Minke whale surfacing sequence
Minke whale surfacing sequence
Minke whale surfacing sequence
Minke whale
Miss Capt Skye
Steller sea lions on Whale Rocks
Steller sea lions and Brown Pelican on Whale Rocks
Steller sea lions and Brown Pelican on Whale Rocks
Steller sea lions and Brown Pelican on Whale Rocks
Currents in Cattle Pass
Currents in Cattle Pass
Sailing downwind
Route map 8-12-22