Young Gray Whale in Wasp Passage

August 24, 2023 – Today we were both very surprised and excited to see a gray whale passing through the area during a time when gray whales aren’t usually here. They’re usually up in Alaska feeding before their long migration down to Mexico during winter. This young whale was first spotted by McConnell Island headed east right along the Shaw Island coastline. At Broken Point we met the whale and sailed parallel with it until it reached the Shaw Ferry Landing. It was here that we actually lost sight of it as the ferry was docking right in the vicinity where the whale was. Perhaps the whale changed course to keep clear of the ferry and we missed the sequential surfacings. We were relieved to hear that later in the day it was seen near the Lopez Ferry Landing. Continuing our sailing adventure we hugged the Shaw coastline and sailed around Canoe Island before heading south down San Juan Channel. At Deadman Island we spotted a bald eagle fledgling and many harbor seals. On Whale Rocks the Steller sea lions were rather rambunctious. The cute little sea otter was there again wrapped up in the bull kelp giving himself a bath. On Salmon Bank we had a nice sail to the bottom of the bank and back, but didn’t get lucky finding any minke whales despite good spotting conditions and lots of bird activity. As we came back through Cattle Pass we passed by Goose Island to see the cormorant colony before making our way back up the channel to Friday Harbor.