The sunny, clear day brought the Cascades and Olympics mountain ranges into full view as we rounded Cattle Point and headed up the west coast. We quickly encountered orcas which appeared to be feeding with thrashing and direction changes along with a few breaches and tail lobs. After being lucky enough to watch the unique behavior, we headed back south.
The glassy conditions of the water allowed us to easily spot over half of the resident Minke population, which had gathered in Salmon Bank. It was incredible to view so many of the rorquals in one area. We could hear the exhales of the whales between the squawks of the birds which had also congregated in the area. Both the Minkes and the birds were there to feed on the same morsel, the herring.