I had been to the islands before, but it was a long time ago and I must have missed the amazingness of them. Yes, amazingness. Its a word.
Matt and I took a trip this last weekend (baby free) to Friday Harbor to take a whale watching cruise. I have been dying to do this for a while, and it was the perfect day to be out on the water.
My mom stayed home with Sam and it was so nice to be just Matt and I again even though all we really did was talk about Sammy. :)
Our cruise took us out around the islands, and it was only 20 minutes before we came upon the Orca whales. There were reports that all 3 pods were in the area, but we were not aware that they would all be traveling together, which happens maybe once every 10 years. Because of this rare occurrence, the whales were SUPER active, and we saw tons of "breaches" "tale slaps" and "belly up's". However, the Orcas were up against the shore hunting salmon, so we were unable to get really close. But it was so incredible none the less. We were able to spot over 80 whales.
We identified this one as "Onyx", and 18 year old male.
Can you see the breaching whale? I am moving into this house as soon as I win the lottery.
"Georgia." She has a crush on "Onyx" and is often seen following him. 
The "Pod-arazzi." These are all the Whale Watching tour boats.
On the boat we made really good friends with the crew. Matt and I had tons of great questions, and they used some of my pictures to identify the whales. One of the naturalists that we were on board with told me to look her up when we come back and she will give me a job on the boat with her. It will be done, I swear.Matt and I are already talking about heading out there again before J, K and L pod head down into warmer waters for the winter. We loved our mini-vacation, and are so thankful to my parents for helping out with Sam. 
To learn more about the Puget Sound Orca Whales, click HERE.
3 comments:
um GORGEOUS! how fun that you two got the weekend to yourselves! i have never been the islands but you have inspired me.....
oh man you always make me home sick for the North West! Daniel and I totally have to do this next time we take a trip to Seattle!
When this post started, I guessed that it would end with "But we didn't see any whales". Turns out you saw a lot of them and you even got some great pictures! Jealous! Looks like tons of fun!
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