Northwest Dive Club

I have been fascinated by whales ever since rowing into a pod of Orca as a teenager nearly 60 years ago. I am watching gray whales spout from my home on Possession Sound. Yesterday I got a chance to watch them from a boat with a couple of whale researchers. They were young, enthusiastic, and gracious with an old man. They could identify individuals since the same 10 whales have been pulling out of the northern migration and hanging around the bay at this time of year for several migrations. Grays are not as photogenic as humpbacks or orca since they rarely breach or spy-hop. This particular whale surfaced next to the boat, they identified it as "383", a young male. It's as good as I could do. If you enjoy whales, they will be between Everett and Langley for the next couple of months.
-Curt

Very cool!
Will keep an eye out. Is there a best shore viewing area? Langley?

That's soooo cool! I'm crossing my fingers for some whale action in Barkley Sound this weekend. I'd love to stop by Whidbey and see a grey whale sometime soon too!

Thanks for the info!

YellowEye wrote:Very cool!
Will keep an eye out. Is there a best shore viewing area? Langley?

Langley, Clinton, Kayak Point, or Camano Island State Park are all possibilities. The whale watching boats are good for locating them.
-Curt

Very cool! I'd love to see them

Awesome story and thanks for the tip that they'll be around for awhile!

Some dump ass hit one with a boat yesterday. Unbelievable.

http://www.king5.com/tech/science/envir ... /433552525

bradmond wrote:Some dump ass hit one with a boat yesterday. Unbelievable.

http://www.king5.com/tech/science/envir ... /433552525

That made the news all the way over here in Thailand. I hope they throw the book at that person.

Bradmond: Thanks for pointing this out. I missed it. My wife's comment was, "I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often." The fact that the gray whales have become used to boats amplifies the problem. Whales often will go "people watching" with a drifting boat. We have had our own close calls, primarily when the engine was turned off and we were drifting, and one very unexpected encounter with a gray whale in Swinomish Channel. People familiar with the channel can understand why it freaked us out. As long time observers, we have seen many oblivious boaters roar right into a pod of whales. The most egregious was a pair of 47 footers cruising right through a superpod of nearly 100 frolicking orca despite first passing through a fleet of whale watching boats trying to alert them. The most entertaining was the collision between a kiteboarder and a surfaced gray whale. The man was focused on his kite, leaning back into a stiff wind. I'm sure both were more surprised than damaged. Let's be careful out there.
-Curt
p.s. I am sympathetic with the whales. I have been hit by a boat and experienced a severed arm from the propeller. (It was re-attached.)

Wow Curt, can't imagine what that must have been like. We divers are often times close to those types of hazards.


If someone can hit a Ferry then hitting a whale is certainly possible.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-new ... on-island/


Here's more information related to the recent collision.
http://cascadiaresearch.org/north-puget ... -collision

One of the links sent by Bradmond mentions that the gray whales feed on the bottom at high tide. While eating breakfast on my deck this morning I could hear whales blowing. I looked up at three individuals feeding near the shore. They lie on their side and scoop up the sand with their mouths. They force the sand out through their baleen with their tongue an eat the critters that remain, mostly ghost shrimp. The first picture shows a flipper and a fluke sticking up out of the water as one is on his side. This second picture I shot this afternoon at low tide. It shows the scooped out sediment where they were feeding. While I can't dive anymore, I enjoy this as much as I can.
-Curt

If those are seagulls standing at the edges then it really shows the how big the scoops are.

Look at the full size picture, they are indeed seagulls... Big scoops!