Sunrise Over the San Juans: we hurried out of bed this morning to watch for the "green flash" as the sun burst over the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington. A bigger attraction, though, was a loose group of three or four Minke whales surfacing repeatedly near our ship as they fed on herring and krill (small euphausiid and mysid shrimps that drift as plankton).
Crying and chattering on the surface of the water, and seeking the same foods as the whales, were hundreds of common murres, rhinoceros auklets and California, Heermann's and glaucous-winged gulls. Birdwatchers and whale watchers were in paradise.
The strong currents of Juan de Fuca Strait, Haro Strait and Puget Sound converge here, creating upwellings of nutrient-rich water. All levels of the marine food pyramid can be found in abundance. The morning's activity was especially exciting to watch with the sun at a low angle over a flat sea.
A visit to Friday Harbor, a barbecue luncheon on deck and an afternoon hike on a quiet island rounded out our last full day on board.
