Epic minke encounter on Salmon Bank

June 7, 2021 – South through Turn Island Pass on the low tide where we saw a raccoon on the tide line. We tacked down to Danger Rock where the harbor seals were hauled out. Looking for a back eddy to make time to Cattle Point we sailed to Pear Point and crossed to Harbor Rock. Passing Goose Island we documented the nesting Double-crested, Pelagic and Brandt’s cormorants. Cutting into the back eddy to Cattle Point Lighthouse before fighting the flood out to Salmon Bank. One mile south of the green can we met two minke whales. One of them was our familiar friend who has a nick on the leading edge of the dorsal fin. We’ve seen this minke for several years now and refer to it as “Minke Mouse”. The other had a sharp pointy dorsal fin. We didn’t observe any foraging behavior but while we silently drifted they gave us some great close views. It was a phenomenal minke encounter. On our return we stopped by Whale Rocks to see the Steller sea lions and a bald eagle perched on the rocks. Earlier there was a California sea lion there, too, but we didn’t see him there. As we came back through Cattle Pass the flood current gave us speeds up to 12 knots all the way back to Friday Harbor.