Whale Watching

My parents came out for a visit in Seattle here in July.  One of the coolest things at this time of year is to head north a bit to check out the local Orca whales.  Before when we did it, we were able to watch from shore, but this time we booked a whole cruise to see them.


It turned out to be a long cruise, we headed out on an intercept course, but then the whales turned around so we had to change directions and go all the way into Canada to catch up to them.  We finally did and saw one of the local pods of whales as they cruised the area sleeping and eating salmon.  Apparently it was "J" pod, which is one of three local pods.  They have the oldest lady of the bunch (Orca pods are led by the oldest female, and females never leave their mothers), a 100 year old whale named Granny.


There are both local Orcas, and seasonal visitors.  The local ones just eat fish, particularly lots of Salmon, but the visiting ones come in and eat the seals and porpoises along with fish.


I took the wrong lens with me, I should have taken my longer lens to get in a little closer on the action.  Oh well, this lens was able to snap a good photo of a smirky Max.  We saw a lot of cool stuff on our 8 hour journey besides the whales, also saw some Bald Eagles, Seals, Porpoises, and a bunch of different birds.

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