San Juan Island
The call came early this morning; it was just before six, with the sun still low above the wooded hills of San Juan Island, when we heard Neil's voice over the intercom: …killer whales! It did not take long for quite a crowd to gather on deck, and everyone immediately realized that the early rise was certainly worth it. A large pod of sixteen killer whales were cruising up and down the coast, obviously engaged in a cooperative fishing operation. It was a spectacular visual experience seeing groups of five to eight animals, in close formation dive and surface, and each time they surfaced, they blew their brightly back-lit vapor plumes up in front of the dark, shaded shore. We could clearly see the individual whales, a few large males, more mid-sized females and juveniles, and a couple very small 'babies'. As the Sea Lion slowly drifted closer, we started to hear the sharp exhaling sound seconds after seeing the vapor plumes shoot up into the cool morning air. At first it was hard to take our eyes off the killer whale spectacle, but after a while, we became aware of the rest of the beautiful day around us. The snow-covered peaks of the Olympic Range shimmered in the morning sun, high above the western horizon, and islands of various shapes and sizes dotted the sea all around, while pelagic cormorants, glaucous-winged gulls and the occasional bald eagle added another, lighter dimension to our world. But without any doubt, the killer whales were our prima ballerinas of the day.
Later, while on shore in Friday Harbor, several of us were found kneeling on the edge of the floating dock, leaning over the water, totally absorbed by the invertebrate community on the under water structures of the dock. One of the naturalists pointed out some of the most amazing life forms we have ever seen: magenta tube worms, snowy white sea anemones, geometric kelp bryozoans, and a nearly transparent shrimp. The day ended with one more foray into the world of invertebrate life forms, but this one in the dining room, a magnificent feast of local Dungeness crab!
The call came early this morning; it was just before six, with the sun still low above the wooded hills of San Juan Island, when we heard Neil's voice over the intercom: …killer whales! It did not take long for quite a crowd to gather on deck, and everyone immediately realized that the early rise was certainly worth it. A large pod of sixteen killer whales were cruising up and down the coast, obviously engaged in a cooperative fishing operation. It was a spectacular visual experience seeing groups of five to eight animals, in close formation dive and surface, and each time they surfaced, they blew their brightly back-lit vapor plumes up in front of the dark, shaded shore. We could clearly see the individual whales, a few large males, more mid-sized females and juveniles, and a couple very small 'babies'. As the Sea Lion slowly drifted closer, we started to hear the sharp exhaling sound seconds after seeing the vapor plumes shoot up into the cool morning air. At first it was hard to take our eyes off the killer whale spectacle, but after a while, we became aware of the rest of the beautiful day around us. The snow-covered peaks of the Olympic Range shimmered in the morning sun, high above the western horizon, and islands of various shapes and sizes dotted the sea all around, while pelagic cormorants, glaucous-winged gulls and the occasional bald eagle added another, lighter dimension to our world. But without any doubt, the killer whales were our prima ballerinas of the day.
Later, while on shore in Friday Harbor, several of us were found kneeling on the edge of the floating dock, leaning over the water, totally absorbed by the invertebrate community on the under water structures of the dock. One of the naturalists pointed out some of the most amazing life forms we have ever seen: magenta tube worms, snowy white sea anemones, geometric kelp bryozoans, and a nearly transparent shrimp. The day ended with one more foray into the world of invertebrate life forms, but this one in the dining room, a magnificent feast of local Dungeness crab!
