Georgia Strait and Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
As we steadily made our way south along Georgia Strait this morning, the sky slowly turned from deep purple, to pink to a blazing yellow and orange as the sun rose above the distant mountain range. It was a perfect beginning to our last day aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird. Tomorrow we will disembark in Seattle, but we still have one more full day to take in the beauty and tranquility of the Pacific Northwest. For the past 460 kilometers and two full days we have been making our way along the eastern coastline of Vancouver Island and today, our morning was spent looking for wildlife en route to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
Mid-morning, Naturalists Mike Nolan and CT Ticknor gave a presentation on killer whales and shared some of their orca snapshots, to give a better understanding of the animals we saw yesterday. Then, after lunch we pulled into dock on San Juan Island, our first stop back in the United States since leaving Alaska. The island is the second largest in the San Juan archipelago, measuring 20 miles long and 7 miles wide. Friday Harbor, population 2,130, is home to half of the islands residents. After clearing immigration, we disembarked the ship to explore the small town. The whale museum, which exhibits a variety of information on several whale species, was a popular option, as was shopping at the local gift stores and perusing the marina.
We re-boarded the ship in late afternoon to continue our way south towards Seattle. As we got underway, a light fog rolled in, but cleared slightly for the evening cocktail hour. Recap was superseded by a pod of killer whales that we encountered amidst the shipping lanes that lead to Seattle. They gave us a great show with tail-slapping, spy-hopping, and somersaults at the surface of the water. Coupled with a golden sunset, it was a perfect ending for our southbound voyage.
After dinner, as a toast to the past ten days that saw us all the way from Sitka, Alaska to Prince Rupert in British Colombia and finally to Seattle, we reminisced through a slideshow of everyones best five images captured throughout the voyage. It was great to look back to the first few days on board!
