Minke whale 'Trotsky II' on Salmon Bank

September 12, 2022 – The end of the ebb tide carried us passed the kelp forest of Turn Rock and gave us a slight edge on our close hauled sail down the channel. A few tacks and we met an incoming classic sailboat and recognized our shipwright friends from Emerald Marine who’ve shared the history of maintaining Peniel some 20 odd years.

Slipping quietly passed the harbor seals along with a pair of black oystercatchers in the pass of Deadman Island. Out to Whale Rocks where the Steller sea lions were loafing around together with a large number of Brandts cormorants. Onwards inside the shoreline of Long Island spotting a bald eagles’ nest and nearby a bald eagle.

From Iceberg Point off Lopez we headed offshore to McArthur Bank looping back to Salmon Bank where we found the minke whale known as Trotsky ll. Easily recognized by scars from a probable boat strike this minke was actively foraging amongst groups of birds who marked out the bait balls of small fish.

Large numbers of Surf Scoters and Rhinoceros Auklets lined the tide near to Cattle Point Lighthouse. We were helped by the now flooding current and wing on wing sailing passed the cormorant nesting colony on Goose Island, harbor proposes in the tide rips, a bald eagle taking advantage of ground effect by flying low to the water. Sunset light lit the red of the madrone trees on Shaw Island and we sailed over Reid Rock into Friday Harbor as the sun went down.