Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
April, 2016
The Pacific Northwest has a tremendous array of aquatic wildlife but none more riveting or awe inspiring than the whales. In addition to our most iconic, the Orca, we also have Gray Whales and Humpbacks, both of which stop by the Salish Sea on their migrations to and from the Arctic. This bucket is based on my recent Gray Whale watching trip in April.
Mystic Sea at dock in Langley, Whidbey Is.Although the focus here is on the whales, I must say a word or two (brag) about the setting in which we were fortunate enough to view them. The whales chose and we followed them to a magnificent portion of Puget Sound/Salish Sea where they fed. They chose as their supermarket the relatively shallow waters off the south eastern end of Whidbey Island across Saratoga Pass to the nearby southern end of Camano Island. This area was bordered by the mainland and the city of Everett, just a few miles to the east. We were able to view these whales against the backdrop of three of Washington’s five volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains: Mt. Baker to the north, Glacier Peak to the East and Mt. Rainier to the South. Although we could see Rainier, it was rather hazy and did not come through on photos. Below are a few shots of the whales and the mountains.