shtoink Report post Posted August 3, 2012 Today, the family and I made it up to our second trip to watch whales. Unfortunately, we didn't see any with the exception of a couple far-off dorsal fins of some Minke Whales while on the way back to port. They didn't even stick around long enough to get pictures, either. What we did get was a great tour of the Straits on a nice day. The morning was overcast and some areas had some fog, and as the afternoon rolled on, the fog cleared and it was a picturesque day for seeing the mouth of the Puget Sound. We started out in Port Townsend, sailed to the south end of the San Juan Islands, zig zagged about, sailed to Deception Pass and under the bridge, and then headed back to Port Townsend. We got to see some Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, tons of sea birds, driftwood, and the tiniest bit of those Minke Whales. Despite the disappointment of not seeing any Orca Whales, it was a fantastic experience. I managed to take a ton of pictures and will probably add more as I work my way through them, but tossed in a few that I took of the south end of the San Juans. The first eight pictures are actually panoramic photos and needed to be shrunk down to a more manageable size. Some of the original files were upwards of 10mb. If anyone might be interested in those, just let me know. As usual, just click on the thumbnails to open up a full size image. We definitely intend to go back, the whole thing IS about seeing and photographing Orcas. Our first trip was cut short due to a sudden approach of a storm that left our small boat (about 30 feet) in 5+ foot waves. They promised us that they would never have left the dock had they known it would have been like that. We saw no whales, then, either. I hope you guys enjoy the images. For those of you who are landlocked or have never had the opportunity, if you ever get the chance to tour some waterways, take it. It'll be an amazing experience, as the pictures pale in comparison to the real thing. As a teaser: We're supposed to be going up to Mt. Rainier very soon, since summertime is ideal if you intend to drive up and leave in the same day, so I'll keep you posted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shtoink Report post Posted August 5, 2012 I am hoping that everyone who has read this realized that clicking the images opens up a bigger version and that I didn't just do up some postage stamp sized pictures for you guys to squint at. Also, the images are smaller versions of the ones generated by the camera, so they isn't a need to worry about trying to open massive files. They are bigger, but still reasonable. I was worried that I scared everyone off... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
