Whale Watching

Another exciting Girl Scout adventure for Avery and I....whale watching!!!!

We got chosen to go on an all Girl-Scout whale watching tour through the San Juan Islands.  

The tour was cool....this was the boat.

www.islandmariner.com

It turned out by luck of the draw that Avery's BFF Kelsey (and fellow Girl Scout) 

and her Mom got to come on the trip as well. 

The day started off a little cool and rainy....

 

 ....but once we got out in the sound, it started to clear up and we got to see lots of wildlife.

Unfortunately Kelsey wasn't feeling so good (a little seasick), so Avery and I left them behind and went upstairs to get a better view of all the critters!!!

We saw harbor porpoises and bald eagles.  

Avery got really good at spotting the immature bald eagles right away!!

There were tons of harbor seals along the way, too!!!

(Notice the bald eagle perched on the rock in the background!)

It was so BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

We motored out through the San Juan Islands to the Strait of Juan deFuca and the Salish Sea.  

The tour guide was a naturalist who knew sooooo much about the history of the islands and all of the wildlife that we were seeing!  

The hope was to see a pod of orca whales, but they were nowhere to be found.  

The good news was that there was a minke whale in the vicinity.  

I had never heard of a minke whale.....apparently they are baleen whales that are about 20-30 feet long and can weigh up to 10,000 lbs.

Lo and behold....we spotted one!!!!  (They are tough to capture on camera!)

Pretty cool.

And once the whale was gone....the girls were pretty much done with the tour and ready to be back in Bellingham!!! :) 

Good thing I packed some leather strands for braiding!  The girls got a quick lesson and they were off and running with some crafting!

 

**I was so impressed with Avery's ability to listen to all of the facts given throughout the day.  She was fascinated by it all!  The best part was when we got home and she was able to tell Mark about all that she had learned!!!  She makes me so proud!!!

We had a great time and what a wonderful first whale watching tour for Avery and I!  

We live in a most amazing place!  So beautiful!!!!