MORNING TOURS
The chatter on the communications radio had us in belief that Humpback whales were feeding South towards Washington state. The intel proved fruitful and we were soon watching Humpback whales with the Olympic mountains as a backdrop! The first two we watched in succession were relatively small, one with a distinct hook-like dorsal fin which we had not seen before. Perhaps they were sub-adults making their first solo Summer migration. They showed their tails on deep dives and were moving quite slowly, a positive sign that they were probably feeding.
The next Humpback whale was the well known “Scratchy” moving much faster to the West, it was larger too and a nice comparison to the smaller whales. Throughout the duration of our morning whale watching, blows from other Humpback whales were visible in the distance, a good sign the “Humpback Comeback” is still in full swing!
AFTERNOON TOURS
Our initial plan was based on trying to catch up with the Humpback whales we knew had been in the area very recently. We headed south hopeful for Humpbacks! Old faithful “Scratchy” the Humpback was still hanging around and we all enjoyed seeing its scratchy tail flick out of the water. Suddenly “Scratchy” picked up the pace and moved in a South-Westerly direction.
Food time was over, and something was on its mind. A really magical part of the Humpback’s migration pattern is that you really get to know individual whales who stick around in a similar area, “Scratchy” is definitely proving to be a whale of the Salish Sea!
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