Whale Watching

Jared and I woke up Friday morning, and I started looking around on the internet for something tourist-like since we're leaving Seattle in just 2 weeks. I stumbled across whale watching and thought how cool it would be to see shamu and his friends. We made breakfast and then set out for our day adventure. We drove north of Seattle about 80 miles to Anacortes, which is where we boarded the Island Explorer 3.The boat ride lasted 6 hours and we saw orcas, bald eagles, seals and way too many gorgeous islands and waterfront homes. The pictures don't even come close to giving you the real image. The whales were jumping and splashing and playing all over. I'm just too slow with the camera and have no skill whatsoever.

The killer wales in the area belong to three pods or families--J, K and L. We saw whales from the J and L pods. Apparently they were socializing heavily as the two pods hadn't seen each other in a little while. Each whale in the area has its own name, and the naturalists running the boat identified some of the whales for us. I guess every whale has a unique saddle patch located behind its top fin that acts like a finger print. It's white and I always thought it was just a reflection from the water or something.

The land just behind us in this picture is Victoria, B.C. We were so close, but still not there. Someday...Here is a map of our voyage.

The ride coming back into the harbor was absolutely gorgeous--the sun was setting, the city lights starting to glow, and the ocean so peaceful! A day well spent.