Galaxia and Allusion surfacing together by Stuart Island, by Elliot Shaughenessy-Lively
May 29th – Naturalist Kara
Windy reports and an unknown destination had us sailing for smooth waters today, sticking to the interior of the San Juan Islands. We enjoyed some sleepy stellar sea lions and a nesting pair of pelagic cormorants before getting a report of Humpbacks by Stuart Island!
The pair of humpbacks were providing great fluking shots, allowing us to identify these individuals as Galaxia BCX1301 and Allusion BCY1300 . Both whales are young humpbacks, with their first sightings in 2022! They seemed curious, and kept surfacing together coming to check out our boat. The lighting was perfect to be able to see those pectoral fins under the water!
May 30 – Naturalist Lauren
Lunge master humpback whale captured our attention today!! Crew member Elliot had eagle eyes spotting a juvenile humpback on the south side of Vendovi Island. We slowly approached, dialing in this animal. They took us in loop-da-loops, changing directions almost every surfacing. Being relatively shallow on the west side of Vendovi and lunge feeding, we saw lots of fluke action. We hypothesize this whale is not in the most recently updated ID guide which is exciting.
We had amazing passes off the stern. Guests were able to see the barnacles growing on their fluke, we got to hear just how powerful their exhalations are and we got to see some chin slaps while they fed in the current lines. This individual must have been hungry. We disembarked from this whale to see what else we could find. Eagles perched high in the trees scouting for food, harbor seals taking a sun nap, and steller sea lions fighting for real estate were out and about. The sea lions were jumping up and off and back onto the Sinclair channel marker giving us a good show.
As we started heading back east, some other whale watching boats had just left the humpback we found earlier, we re-acquired this animal quickly getting in some more whale time. They moved north to Carter point on the south side of Lummi island and the feeding frenzy continued!! Even more lunge feeding on the surface, coming out of the water with their head, mouth open, baleen exposed. What an incredible thing to see this whale hugging the west coast line of Lummi. I always love starting and ending the day with a humpback whale so close to home.
May 31 – Naturalist Lauren
What a perfect way to end May with sunshine and a double header! We ventured out into the heart of the San Juan’s after hearing some early morning reports in Cayou channel. With perfect weather, we had a smooth cruise through Peavine pass. It’s always fun going through the middle to see all the smaller islands not accessible by the WA state ferries. We made our way towards Jones island and caught up with two pods of Bigg’s orca whales, the T123’s, led by Sydney, and the T124A4’s, led by Sabio. These two pods have been traveling together recently, it was a treat to see them all together today. They gave us great looks at the dorsal fins, eye patches and saddle patches. Stanley (T123A), the largest male of the group, caused some wide eyes because of his massive dorsal fin. The pods traveled closely together the entire encounter, giving us an idea of how tactile these animals are staying within a pectoral flipper distance away from each other. They continued westward through Spieden Channel while we ventured eastward towards Sucia island.
Early afternoon reports of two humpbacks near Sucia piqued our interest. Without coverage, we had to re-acquire the animals. They had about a one mile split between them. We were fortunate enough to see the towering blow of BCX1800, Gretzky’s, blow from a few miles away. Gretzky found an awesome feeding spot on the northeast side of Sucia doing massive circles. They were quite consistent with their surfacings intervals but kept us on our toes as to what direction they would be heading. The highlight of our encounter were the orangey clouds Gretzky left in their wake. Whale poop, otherwise known as a fecal plume!! Truly an honor to see a humpback whale fertilizing the Salish sea!
June 1 – Naturalist Lauren
What a day to be a baby humpback whale!! With some morning reports of two humpbacks on the northwest side of Lummi, we ventured north to start the day. It’s always fun to spot a whale because they choose to be airborne. From at least 2 nautical miles away, we saw lots and lots of big splashes so we kept cruising north to investigate. Conditions were a bit choppy with wind coming from the north, but it was whale worth it.
We encountered Smoke (BCY0778) and her 2026 calf! What an absolute treat to see humpback whale mama’s bringing their claves into the Salish sea, teaching them about all the good foraging spots. This little calf was learning a lot more than where to forage today though. We had an incredible aerial display from mom and baby! Mom would do a cartwheel, baby would do a cartwheel, mom would chin slap then baby would chin slap!! Breach after breach after breach from baby had the crowd and crew squealing with joy getting to observe a teaching moment unfold right before our eyes. Smoke and her calf had a synchronized breach leaving us speechless. The size comparison is always fun to experience with your own eyes. These gentle giants surely put on a show for us. Once mom was tired, she corralled her calf and they went into a much more mellow travel mode.
As we departed, we found the sheltered waters of Echo Bay on Sucia Island. A beautiful pit stop to admire 4 bald eagles soaring high above the trees, pigeon guillemots crash landing in the water and the chuckanut formation sandstone. We checked out harbor seals and 5 more bald eagles on Peapod rocks before cruising on back to Bellingham bay. It was a wonderfully packed, wildlife rich type of day on the water.
