Whale Watching
July 16, 2005
Today we went whale watching. We left our hotel about 6:40 AM and walked to Pier 69 where we boarded the Victoria Clipper III, our ship for the day. The weather was kind of chilly and pretty overcast as we began our trip. The Clipper left port at 7:45 AM for a 2 1/2 cruise to San Juan Island.
This ship has two indoor levels and an upper observation deck. It travels pretty quickly, so the upper deck was quite cold in the morning. We spent most of our time in our airline-type seats on the first deck. The large observation windows still allowed us to take in the views as we headed toward the island. The scenery became more and more interesting the further we traveled with rocky islands, majestic mountains, and various forms of wildlife being seen.
Once we arrived at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, some passengers disembarked while those of us continuing on to look for whales stayed put. In about 15 minutes we were on our way once again. The sun had come out and it had warmed up by this time, so we moved to the top deck to keep a lookout for the Orcas. There was a naturalist on board that provided a running commentary of where we were, what we should look for, and details about the Orcas while we cruised around San Juan Islands. We saw some whales off in the distance, but in general they were not being very cooperative in "showing off" for the tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Our naturalist indicated that the whales were staying down under the water, feeding and talking to each other.
Finally, only about 20 minutes or so before we needed to head back to Friday Harbor, a pod of whales came into view very near the coast of the island. At first we saw their dorsal fins, and then a cheer went up from everyone on the ship as an Orca breached (jumped out of the water). We also observed them "spy hopping" (kind of standing up on their tails so that they can look around at what is going on outside of the water) and "tail lobbing" (smacking their tails on the water - a form of communication). It was worth the trip!
Returning to Friday Harbor, we got off the boat and ate lunch at one of the restaurants near the dock. This little town seemed very quiet and serene, not at all like Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie that can get quite raucous on the weekend. We walked around the downtown area a bit, bought ice cream cones, and strolled through an arts and crafts festival that was taking place. Since we only had a 2-hour stop on the island, it was soon time to get back aboard the Victoria Clipper III and head back toward Seattle.
Since it had warmed up considerable during the day and the sun was shining, Patty, Bill, and Michael spent most of the trip back up on the top deck enjoying the sea air and views. Betsy and Katie were exhausted and took a nap in their seats on the lower deck. We saw a number of birds and seals in the water, and went by a small island of seals that also had a couple of nesting bald eagles. Also observed were three large cruise ships heading out through Puget Sound on their way to the Pacific ocean and Alaska.
We got back to port in Seattle around 7:30 PM and headed out in search of a bookstore to purchase the new Harry Potter novel that came out at 12:01 AM today. A Barnes and Noble bookstore was located in the Pacific Place Mall, and we purchased 2 copies of the book. We had found it earlier in the day, for FULL price, at a small bookstore in Friday Harbor, but convinced Michael that we should wait and by it someplace where we could get a better price. We ended up with 2 copies from Barnes and Noble for just a little more than the 1 would have cost us at Friday Harbor.
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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.
Today we went whale watching. We left our hotel about 6:40 AM and walked to Pier 69 where we boarded the Victoria Clipper III, our ship for the day. The weather was kind of chilly and pretty overcast as we began our trip. The Clipper left port at 7:45 AM for a 2 1/2 cruise to San Juan Island.
This ship has two indoor levels and an upper observation deck. It travels pretty quickly, so the upper deck was quite cold in the morning. We spent most of our time in our airline-type seats on the first deck. The large observation windows still allowed us to take in the views as we headed toward the island. The scenery became more and more interesting the further we traveled with rocky islands, majestic mountains, and various forms of wildlife being seen.
Once we arrived at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, some passengers disembarked while those of us continuing on to look for whales stayed put. In about 15 minutes we were on our way once again. The sun had come out and it had warmed up by this time, so we moved to the top deck to keep a lookout for the Orcas. There was a naturalist on board that provided a running commentary of where we were, what we should look for, and details about the Orcas while we cruised around San Juan Islands. We saw some whales off in the distance, but in general they were not being very cooperative in "showing off" for the tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Our naturalist indicated that the whales were staying down under the water, feeding and talking to each other.
Finally, only about 20 minutes or so before we needed to head back to Friday Harbor, a pod of whales came into view very near the coast of the island. At first we saw their dorsal fins, and then a cheer went up from everyone on the ship as an Orca breached (jumped out of the water). We also observed them "spy hopping" (kind of standing up on their tails so that they can look around at what is going on outside of the water) and "tail lobbing" (smacking their tails on the water - a form of communication). It was worth the trip!
Returning to Friday Harbor, we got off the boat and ate lunch at one of the restaurants near the dock. This little town seemed very quiet and serene, not at all like Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie that can get quite raucous on the weekend. We walked around the downtown area a bit, bought ice cream cones, and strolled through an arts and crafts festival that was taking place. Since we only had a 2-hour stop on the island, it was soon time to get back aboard the Victoria Clipper III and head back toward Seattle.
Since it had warmed up considerable during the day and the sun was shining, Patty, Bill, and Michael spent most of the trip back up on the top deck enjoying the sea air and views. Betsy and Katie were exhausted and took a nap in their seats on the lower deck. We saw a number of birds and seals in the water, and went by a small island of seals that also had a couple of nesting bald eagles. Also observed were three large cruise ships heading out through Puget Sound on their way to the Pacific ocean and Alaska.
We got back to port in Seattle around 7:30 PM and headed out in search of a bookstore to purchase the new Harry Potter novel that came out at 12:01 AM today. A Barnes and Noble bookstore was located in the Pacific Place Mall, and we purchased 2 copies of the book. We had found it earlier in the day, for FULL price, at a small bookstore in Friday Harbor, but convinced Michael that we should wait and by it someplace where we could get a better price. We ended up with 2 copies from Barnes and Noble for just a little more than the 1 would have cost us at Friday Harbor.
-----
A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.
posted by Bill Bauer at 2:02 PM
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