March 29, 2021

March 30, 2021 — Leave a comment

Everett

With the storms of yesterday blowing away over the horizon and blue skies settling in, we set out into Port Gardner. Our first stop was just outside the navy base where we found a lone California sea lion hauled out on a navigation marker. After circling him once and getting great looks we headed out into the deeps. Our fist whale of the day was feeding up in the Snohomish river delta, and we got some decent looks before moving on for more whales. Heading to the north we came across CRC 44 Dubknuck as he was traveling between Hat and Camano island. He faces us some great surface time and amazing looks but seemed to be a little shy with his tail flukes. Splitting off from 44, we headed up along the Camano island shore line in search of some bald eagles. It wasn’t long before one was in sight perched just half way up the hillside. We then began to make our way back toward Everett and found #44 was no longer alone and had been joined by #2356. This whale was not shy about its tail flukes and showed them off a couple times before heading up into Port Susan. We also had a juvenile bald eagle soaring over the top of the boat for some time! The sun was really warming things up by now and we made our way down to the south end of Hat island after reports of more whales had come in over the radios. When we arrived we found #53 Little patch and another unidentified whale swimming together. Both whales showed some tail flukes at one point before we waved goodbye and headed back to the dock!

-Tyson

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March 25, 2021

March 26, 2021 — Leave a comment

Everett

The last bit of rain for the day began to move out of the area as we headed off the dock this morning. Cruising down Jetty island and the Everett naval yard we found a ton of California sea lions hauled out of the water on the navy’s floating fence. We got some great looks and poses from the sea lions before heading out into the Possession sound with reports of a lot of early morning whale activity. Our trip took us passed the new Mukilteo ferry landing and south passed the end of Whidbey island. Shortly after waving goodbye to Whidbey we joined up with the T65 mammal eating orcas! They were heading south slowly and taking long dives which soon became obvious hunting behavior. As the downtime’s got shorter the seagulls began to show up which was a definite sign that lunch had been served. Suddenly one orca breached out of the water and quickly did it a second time. The playful behavior continued for a little while and then dispersed as the meal was shared amongst the pod. We continued following them south and got a second burst of play a little while later before we had to make the turn and head back to the north. We cruised back into Port Gardner and as we passed the Clinton ferry landing joined up with two gray whales! They were CRC 723 and 383 and they were both hanging out cruising south together. We got some close looks and even a couple of great flukes before these two giants of the deep waved goodbye and continued south along Whidbey island. At that point our time had run out so we made our way back to the dock as the sun began to come out from the clouds and the blue skies began to take over the area. It was an absolutely amazing day and a double header on top of it!

-Tyson

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March 23, 2021

March 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Everett

We had a spectacular day exploring the waters of the Possession sound and witnessing all the beauty that she has to offer. Wildlife started off right away with a few harbor seals cruising along the shores of the Everett navy base. Our first stop was at the end of the Everett naval yard where we found a big group of California sea lions. Two of the sea lions noticed our approach and began to pose very proudly unlike there lazy, sleeping friends. From there we headed out into Port Gardner and passed a marker buoy that was covered in cormorants. It was no surprise to us that our bird activity was up today as the waters were flat calm and the sun was already working hard to push out of the clouds. We scoured the southern end of Hat island as well as the Snohomish river delta but it was the north end of hay island where we found our first whales of the day. They turned out to be CRC53 and 21 and they were traveling closely together, socializing with each other as they relaxed above a shallow sand bar. After some great views we decided to branch and check out some blows we saw in the distance near the Tulalip waterfront. Soon we were on scene with two new gray whales that gave us a some great looks at their tail flukes. These two whales ended up being CRC 2249 and 531 and they were headed for the Snohomish river delta. After 531 gave us a few more tail flukes and she began to move into the shallows of the delta with 2249 we decided to go expand on our wildlife check list. Moving up to Camano island we found two adult bald eagles that were in great lighting for some wonderful photos. By now the sun was out, the clouds were disappearing, and so we decided to once again join up with Little Patch and Shackleton. They had made their way to the south end of Hat island and after settling in on scene we got a nice big spy hop from Little Patch. With blue skies all around and calm waters across all of Port Gardner this was a beautifully executed spy hop! LP and Shackleton were soon in shallow water and were feeding as we continued to hang out and watch them, hoping for another spy hop. Even though LP didn’t spyhop again we did get a nice wave goodbye with his tail flukes. We made our way back to the dock after that, passing the California sea lions and enjoying what seemed like tropical weather for Everett. It was a truly magical day in Port Gardner and the wildlife out on quite a thrilling show!

Tyson