Gray Whales From Everett, WA
We had a fantastic day with the whales today. It all started with three California sea lions sleeping on a channel marker. Within 20 minutes from the dock we spotted our first two gray whales. It was #53 and #723. They were swimming around at the southeast side of Hat Island. We watched them for quite a while and then we spotted another whale swimming to the northeast so we cruised over for a look. It turned out to be two whales instead of one. It was #49, Patch, and #531. They gave us many good views. and both of them showed their tail flukes on different occasions. We could also see two other whales feeding in the shallows of the Snohomish River delta in the distance. Next we decided to head over toward Whidbey Island to look for more. We didn't find any there so we cruised back to look at some of our original whales. This time #723 and #53 were swimming together so we turned off our engines and just watched them interact. This is when our day got really exciting. The two whales started creating bubbles at the surface and then #53 did a spyhop for us! A few minutes later #723 followed with a spyhop of his own! The two whales swam side by side and swam over toward us giving everyone a thrill. They seemed to be just as fascinated with us as we were with them. What a great way to end our whale watching day. Other wildlife we spotted today included, a marbled murrelet, brant, western grebes, harbor seals, a bald eagle, osprey, harbor porpoises, barrow's goldeneyes, a mallard/pintail hybrid, common loons, and a red-necked grebe. What a great day! Naturalist Bart Rulon (Photo taken with telephoto lense.)
