Hello whalewatchers: I had to share the sighting of a northbound gray whale off the Washington coast. Celia and I were on vacation between seasons, visiting the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. We saw a blurb in a guide book about Rialto Beach where you might see gray whales and bald eagles, so we decided to make a visit. We stayed in a gorgeous, forested campground in Mora, close to a tiny harbor called La Push. We went to Rialto Beach, walked, birdwatched, beachcombed, and sat on a big log for a break to scan the horizon. It didn’t take long before I saw a spout! A single whale was out there. We’re sure it was an adult, headed north with the typical migration behavior of three spouts and down for three minutes, and then repeating that pattern.Celia and I gravitate to the ocean when we are on vacation and we almost always see some sort of marine mammal. It was a moment of fate to see a species close to our hearts, a gray whale.
To finish the walk we saw a pair of bald eagles, flying high above the treeline above the beach., just like the brochure said.
Capt Art and Celia
