Gray Whales in the Snow!
Our guests had some great whale viewing today on calm seas with a mix sunshine and snow! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for details on today's tour from Naturalist Jami Nagel. "Watching whales in the snow in April! Again we started out with our pinniped buddies (2 California sealions) on the channel marker leaving the marina. They lazily watched as we set out in search of whales. As we came around the north end of Hat Island, "there she blows" not one but three blows! Two of the three gray whales were #22 and #56. They headed south along the east side of Hat Island. We had some amazing looks along with some great looks at their flukes. We even had the pleasure of smelling their stinky breath! (Captain Michael was nice enough to position us down wind of them) The three whales joined up with a fourth whale, #49 Patch. The whales split, 2 heading into the shallows of the river delta and the other 2, including Patch, into deeper water. We first watched the 2 that were feeding in the shallows. They were in water that was about 10 ft deep, Gray whales are an average of 45 ft long. As they turned to their side to scoop up a mouthful of mud their pectoral flipper and one tip of the fluke would stick out of the water. These two whales feed side by side! We left them and went for our last looks at Patch and the whale that moved on with him. We had some wonderful looks at them, including a double fluke!! (Some cultures believe that whale tails are good luck) We got double the good luck today! We also saw several bald eagles, surf scoters, rhinocerus aucklets and western grebes! Heading into the marina we witnessed two osprey capture a small bird mid-flight, very impressive!
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 3:44 PM
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