A Whale of a Time

This one was an especially good day that was off the scale for many reasons.
We woke to a thick fog across the bay the the islands off Anacortes. Even though the forecats was saying sunny, it wasn't looking promising, even as we walked down the road to check in after having our breakfast at the hotel.
We were greeted by Mike (captain), Bart (the photographer and marine expert) and Tyson the junior deck hand). We were introduced to the safety aspects of the trip and a general overview of what the day would comprise of.
We set off with still a fair amount of overcast mist, but with the confidence of Mike at the wheel, we were assured of a good weathered day.
He was right... about an hour or so into the trip and there was a first sighting of a Minkie whale... the overcast mist was burning off as he marked the sighting on his GPS as he was getting word that there were Orca whales ahead. We motored on for another half hour.
True enough, the Orca whale performed right on the mark, and kept the crowd amused. Engines cut, we rode the roll of the waves to an eerie silence all but the commentary from Mike or Bart, who were able to identify each of the whales and what activity they were engaged in.
We drifted for what seemed like half hour, and persued a few others that were being seen a bit further.
Frantic rapid fire cameras were in good use (including my own) and we managed to get some video footage also.
There was other wild-life to see, but the main excitement was focussed on the whales. Seals and other birds were seen on our way back after about 4 hours, and we delayed our return on several occassions just to make sure everyone was feeling they had their monies worth.
We docked at 5.30... 6 hours that passed so quickly in the calm of the sea and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect sightings, and ideal weather couldn't have bettered the trip