It was a beautiful Friday evening as we set sail on the Whales-watching ship, the Island Explorer. As we motored past several of the San Juan Islands a Bald eagle was spotted along the shore. Quite an impressive sight! On the way out to the watching area we encountered a harbor seal playing in the surf. We finally found some whales.
We were told that the whales that were feeding in the area were "Minke" whales.
Minke whales are part of the rorquals, a family that includes the humpback whale, the fin whale and the Blue whale.
The Minke Whales are the second smallest baleen whale - only the pygmy right whale is smaller. Upon reaching maturity (6-8 years) males measure an average of 23 feet in length and females about 24 feet in length.
The Minke whale is a black/grey color on the top and white on the bottom. Common minke whales (northern hemisphere variety) are distinguished from other whales by a white band on each flipper. Minke whales typically live for 30-50 years.
Due to their relative abundance minke whales are often the focus of whale-watching cruises. Minke whales are frequently inquisitive and engage in "human-watching". Minkes do not raise their flukes out of the water when diving and are less likely to breach (jump clear of the sea surface). This combined with the fact that minkes can stay submerged for as long as 20 minutes (or possibly their bad breath) has lead some whale watchers to label them 'stinky minkes'.In 2010, a minke whale swam for 2 hours with Jody Nelson who was stand-up paddle surfing from Santa Catalina Island to Dana Point in Southern Calif. The whale swam close to her, rolled around repeatedly alongside her, and blew bubbles beneath her board.
We had hoped to see some Orca whales that had been the area, however they must have moved out to deeper water. As the sun was setting in the west we headed back to shore.
To see those photo's, please see the next blog page.
Our time here in Anacortes is coming to an end and we will begin our trip back toward Florida soon.
That is all for now,
Candy and Johnny
