Plan on getting up early and grabbing a hat and scarf when you take the daylong San Juan Sealife Cruise. The boat leaves at 8:30 a.m. from the Everett Marina.
| Mosquito Fleet 1724 W. Marine View Drive Everett, 800-325-6722 www.whalewatching.com
Prices through June 10: $50 advance or $60 on day of sail; June 11 through 30: $70 or $80 day of sail; July 1 through Sept. 5: $80 or $100 day of sail; Sept. 6 through Oct. 2: $50 or $60 day of sail. Children up to age 11 free of charge with full-fare adult advanced purchased ticket; half-fare when purchased on the day of sail. Another Everett Parks and Recreation trip is scheduled June 4. Prices are $69 for adults, $64 for seniors 65 and over, and $34.50 for children ages 3 to 17. Children under 3 free. Call 425-257-8300. |
The 10-hour day aboard a Mosquito Fleet boat includes a stop on San Juan Island for lunch and a trip to the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, if there’s time.
A recent Saturday trip, offered through Everett Parks and Recreation, meant bundling up in warm clothes to sit on the upper, outside deck of the boat. There is comfortable seating on the lower inside deck also.
The sea air whipped fresh gusts through our hair as we passed Naval Station Everett. (We forgot to take our hats.)
As the boat sailed smoothly out into Possession Sound, we spotted our first osprey just past Jetty Island. The next sighting was an immature bald eagle, so young that his head wasn’t white yet.
Naturalist Cindy Hansen expertly explained what we would see on the trip. They were hoping for orcas. The cruising group of about 50 people, armed with cameras and binoculars, were eager to learn.
Don’t worry if you don’t have binoculars or if you forget them. They can be rented on board for the day for $5.
Soon, Hansen pointed out three California sea lions who had hauled their big bodies, some weighing as much as 1,000 pounds, onto a bobbing buoy. Onlookers moved to the closest vantage point to watch the massive animals.
As we sailed past Hat Island and Whidbey Island, passengers studied wildlife books and settled in with coffee, hot chocolate and snacks available from the food and gift concession on the downstairs deck.
The boat was passing the end of Whidbey Island when Hansen turned our attention to a gray whale feeding in shallow water.
Cameras clicked and we could almost hear the intake of breath from the passengers as the whale spurted up its spray and lunged up and down for forage.
Gray whales have unique markings and large white barnacles on their skin that help experts like Hansen tell one from the other. They can reach 45 feet in length and weigh up to 40 tons.
Unlike orcas, gray whales don’t have a dorsal fin. Instead they have a small hump and some bumps that make up a dorsal ridge.
After viewing the whale for a few minutes and trying to guess where it would pop up next, we moved on.
Closer to San Juan Island, our group was informed that we were getting nearer to orcas.
In Pacific Northwest waters, there are four orcas clans: J clan lives in our area. The three pods that make up J clan are J, K and L. There are 42 or so of the distinctive black-and-white resident orcas in each pod; two or more pods form each clan.
Orcas tend to stay together all their lives under a matriarchal system, females in charge. They can travel 75 to 100 miles a day. Orcas don’t mate in their own clans and go looking for mates by listening to each other’s different sounds.
The boat slowed and the engines were cut as we approached the orcas skimming the surface in groups of three. Passengers ooh’d and ahh’d as we moved from one side of the boat to the other saying, “There, oh, there, look.”
The weather wasn’t great, but no one cared as they scoured the water for the whales. Other whale watching boats bobbed about, all waiting at a respectful distance to take in the beauty of these massive mammals.
Orcas, also known as killer whales, are the largest member of the dolphin family. Their black-and-white markings and rounded dorsal fins are easy to spot.
Female orcas can be 16 to 18 feet long and weigh up to 41/2 tons, while the males grow 20 to 25 feet long and weigh as much as 8 tons. The male dorsal fin is bigger than a female’s.
After the whale-watching portion of the trip, we headed to Friday Harbor for lunch and a quick trip to the Whale Museum. Admission to the museum is included in the price of the cruise, but we didn’t have time to eat and go to the museum, too. Passengers who pack a lunch will have time to visit the museum. Lunch is not included in the price of the trip.
After a stroll through a couple of stores looking for postcards and refrigerator magnets, it was back to the boat.
With the excitement of the morning’s cruise dying down, the return trip was quiet. A couple of passengers even saw fit to huddle under blankets and take a nap. Hansen warned that the only excitement would be the pull of the current as we passed under the bridge at Deception Pass.
Soon Everett was in sight, and Hansen and the crew woke everyone from a pleasantly tired stupor with a wildlife quiz.
The final stretch of the cruise included a quick wave to the same sea lions we’d seen that morning, still lazing on the buoy.
Reporter Christina Harper: 425-339-3491 or harper@heraldnet.com.
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