After riding two planes, two buses, and a ferry I arrived at San Juan Island.
I had just enough time left when I got on the Island to visit the Whale Museum before it closed. So, fresh off the ferry, I made my way there.
Orca skeleton.
Gray whale baleen.
After checking into my hotel, I grabbed a veggie burger for dinner and bought a few things for the next day's lunch. I was preparing for a kayak trip along the west side of the island.
As you can see on this map, the ferries arrive at Friday Harbor, on the east side of the island. We took a short van ride (20 minutes. It isn't a very big island) to the west side: Lime Kiln State Park.
The launch site.
Got my spray skirt on!
Add the life jacket and I'm ready to go!
Our kayaks for the day.
A short kayak lesson and dry-land pedal/footrest check.
Here we go!
Yes, I helped carry a kayak, too.
A small group. Just the six of us. That's our guide, Chris, in the orange lined kayak. The rest of us were in tandem boats. They were ocean kayaks with rudders and were very stable. The person in the rear cockpit controlled the rudder, but both worked to paddle through the water.
Wheeeee! So cool! (And cold. The water is cold! Fortunately, no one fell out of the boats.)
We are three miles from Canada.
Stop for lunch. We didn't see any whales all day, which was kind of disappointing, but we did see lots of other animals. Jellyfish floated all around us, and it turns out that some of them won't sting you. Our guide told us that if the jellyfish is red (lion jellyfish) don't touch it! But the moon jellies were okay to touch and some people even eat them.
We also saw a couple of seals lounging on the rocks, a purple starfish, lots of seabirds (murres, Canadian geese, several species of seagull, cormorants, a bald eagle, kingfishers), and harbor porpoise. Porpoises? Porpii?
Moon jellyfish. Brought in with the waves.
I'm gonna touch it! Gluelike and slimey.
I knew that sea turtles eat jellyfish, so I asked our guide about turtles. He told me the water is too cold for them this far north. They prefer the warmer waters in the south.
A short hike.
The lighthouse!
Back on the water. It was on the return trip to our launch point that we saw a small group of harbor porpoise bobbing through the waves. They were way too quick to snap a picture, but they were near enough to us to clearly identify them.
I wondered if they were in cahoots with the orcas and were just distracting us while the whales did a conga line behind us.
Gull on a patch of kelp. I was so focused on taking this shot that we glided directly into this patch and the bird had to fly away. Sorry, Ms. Gull.
Approximately eight miles later...back to the starting point.
My paddling buddy! A fellow from New York named Tom. He liked birds too, so we had a good time bird-watching together. Here he is spying a kingfisher!
Back on land. Need to re-dock the boats.
So I still haven't met my whale. The dream remains. But I'm not too upset. It was a perfect day on the water and it was a great opportunity to work on my boating/kayaking skills. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and the wildlife, and made sure we all got out into the bay safely and were responsible on the water.
One other thing that sort of blew my mind was the current. I am aware of ocean currents. I know what they are and that they are necessary, but I had no idea that you could see them. It doesn't really convey too well on camera, but that dark line in the above picture is a current. The water has a roiling, boiling quality to it. Kind of like what it looks like in the wake of a boat after it passes through. But it isn't caused by a boat. That's what I get for growing up around rivers and lakes and never being exposed to such an idea. Amazing!
I know you're out there, whales.
And someday I going to find you.
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