Whale and Shark Watching

My sister is visiting from Oregon so today we went whale watching.

It’s gray whale migration time, so we hoped we’d see a few whales

and some of the dolphins and porpoises we see on almost every cruise.

With cloudy skies and heavy rain predicted this weekend,

I was afraid the tour might be canceled due to rough seas

but the water was smooth as glass with very little wind. 

Perfect!

Our first non-bird sighting was a basking shark lazily swimming a short distance from our boat. The captain said it’s very unusual to see these in our area.

Then we found blue shark #1 - 

swimming with his bright white mouth open - 

and a short time later, blue shark #2.

We spotted several gangs of sea lions sunning themselves 

but didn’t see a single dolphin. Apparently they don’t hang around when sharks are in the area. 

The highlight of the day was definitely the two pods of gray whales we found. 

We followed the first group for awhile, waiting for them to resurface after dives, but they remained mostly out of (iPhone) camera range. 

The second group was also uncooperative as we followed along, until just before we had to start back for the harbor. Then all three whales 

suddenly breached high out of the water,

one after another.

It was spectacular!!

And the perfect end to a great day.