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M/V Kestrel | 11 AM | Naturalist Alexandria  | July 15^th, 2019

What a great Kestrel trip we had today!  When we got onto the water we didn’t have any firm reports, but we knew that this was not uncommon.  We decided to head south and work our way down through San Juan Channel.

We stopped at Whale Rocks and got some adorable looks at harbor seals hauled out on these rocky areas.  There were a few that had gotten up to some higher areas on the rocks during high tide, and they sat high up on that rocky haul out looking down at the other harbor seals beneath them, smirking from their throne.

After we hung out with the harbor seals for a nice chunk of time we heard a report of a Humpback whale all the way out by Race Rocks.  We decided that we definitely wanted some good looks at this sighting so we started the trek over past Victoria on the southern part of Sidney Island.

Upon getting on scene we got some amazing looks at this humpback.  His name is “Scratchy” and he has some really cool markings at the bottom side of him flukes. Lucky for us he was doing shallower dives and spending a great amount of time on the surface of the water which meant for some fantastic looks!

After we spent thirty minutes or so with “Scratchy” we started the trek back.  On our way back we stopped to look for a Minke Whale, but hadn’t had any firm sightings in a bit.  Luckily Captain Pete us in the perfect spot and after a few minutes of scanning the horizon we got some incredible looks at a Minke surfacing off our bow! 

As we continued to watch we realized that we were with not one, not two, but THREE Minkes!  We got some of the best looks at these Minke whales that I’ve ever seen!  It was quite a treat!

We then worked our way back to Friday Harbor, and were lucky enough to see an Eagle in a tree as we were approaching the harbor.  It ended up being a really cool trip!

Until next time,

Naturalist Alexandria