At Lime Kiln State Park (also known as “Whale Watch Park”), the conditions are just right for the whales, and they often cruise by close to the shoreline. They cavort, breach, tail slap, feed, and delight visitors who hang out on the rocky shore waiting for the whales to pass by.
Looking For Whales At Lime Kiln State Park
Alas, we’ve never seen the orcas at Lime Kiln. At least, not up close.
We’ve tried—oh my, have we tried. Many, many times we’ve tried. We’ve spent hours at the park, walking down the path to the shoreline as people excitedly call out, “Oh, the whales were just here!” They then proceed to show us their iPhone videos of the whales breaching just a few feet offshore. The best we’ve managed is a far-off view—mostly the unique curved arc of the dorsal fin. It’s thrilling, but not what we’ve been hoping for.
A Whale Watching Expedition
And so, we decided to fork over the money for a whale watching expedition. Not just any expedition, mind you. Maya’s Legacy is reputed to be the best—a small boat, with only six passengers. A fast boat that would get us quickly to the whales. A captain who knows the island waters like the back of his hand.
Going whale watching with Maya’s Legacy
We made our reservations for the first available time slot in late August. With our friends LuAnn and Terry, we caught the early ferry to San Juan from Lopez, and with great anticipation and excitement, began our journey in search of the orcas. Our captain was skilled and determined to show us the whales. “We’ve seen whales every day this summer,” he told us. With transient whales hanging around as well as the resident pods, our chances were good for an encounter with the orcas.
It was a perfect day. Sunny, cool, and calm. We started out the morning observing the gulls, the seals, enjoying the beauty of the islands. We motored along the west and north side of San Juan Island, no whales to be found. We moved into open waters. We cruised past Shaw Island, traveling 10 miles to Orcas Island, where whales had reputedly been sighted. No whales. Our captain gunned the boat, and we took off at top speed, heading south. “It looks like we’re heading to Lopez,” I said to Eric. “Why are we going to Lopez? There aren’t whales at Lopez.”
Returning To Lopez To See The Whales
But there they were. In all the waters of the islands, a transient pod of orcas chose on this particular day to visit Lopez. Not only did they choose Lopez, they chose Spencer Spit. We sat on the deck of the boat, looking directly at Spencer Spit State Park, our home for the past two months.
Whales off of Spencer Spit State Park
The whales cavorted, spouted, snapped up a seal, rolled, tail slapped, and made a fine display, all within a few feet of the spit. Had we stayed home and walked on the spit—which we do almost every day when we’re on the island—we would have had a magnificent view of the whales, and been closer than we were on the boat. (By law, boats must stay at least 200 yards from the whales.)
Orcas traveling along Spencer Spit
An Orca spout
An Orca fluke
We didn’t see spectacular behavior like spy hopping. Nor were we so lucky to be as close as the folks who happened to be on shore—or better yet, kayaking when the whales passed by. Nonetheless, we had a fabulous time. I’m still determined to see the whales at Lime Kiln. Better yet, maybe they’ll visit Spencer Spit again next year, and we’ll be strolling on the beach when they pass by.
Love your story, and the dorsal ‘Fin’!!!
Ha, yes, Fin by the fin!It was fun playing at Lime Kiln with him. oxox
Well that’s too funny! Doesn’t it figure, they’d be right at home when you’ve gone out of your way to find them! So glad you were successful though! I remember being obsessed with whale watching when I went to Hawaii…I could not take my focus off the horizon just in case a whale would breach.
Lisa, it really was funny — especially since we’ve been trying to see the orcas up close for years. I’d actually love to see them while kayaking.
But you do know that if you had been home, the whales wouldn’t have been there:) Seems to work that way:) You did get to see some beauties. Love that you caught a photo of that neat tail. And of course, I enjoy seeing the white on the orcas. How nice that you got to share this adventure with Terry and LuAnn:)
Pam, I had exactly the same thought — if we had been at home, the whales would have been at Lime Kiln! We had a great time with LuAnn and Terry, though. ;-)
Wonderful pictures of the whales. What magnificent creatures they are. How ironic that they came to you when you were gone and were out trying to find them. But the important thing is that you got to spend some time in their presence however far away. Hoping they will return to your park again.
Thanks, Sherry — we were hoping for behavior like spy hopping and cartwheeling but were still delighted with the time we spent with the orcas. They’re not easy to photograph! They never stand still.
Like our day trips to see wildlife and finding more in the campground when we return :-) Lovely pics of those magnificent creatures – that last one is especially beautiful. Looks like the weather couldn’t have been more beautiful as well.
It does often seem that we see the most wildlife in the campgrounds! Glad you enjoyed the photos, Jodee. :-)
We are still chuckling over having to go all the way to San Juan Island to come back to Lopez to see the orca. It was a beautiful day. Thanks for allowing us to share it with you. :)
LuAnn, it was so much fun sharing the adventure with you and Terry. Perhaps next year we’ll get to see the orcas from Spencer Spit together!
Looking for whales in all the wrong places…or was that love? Laugh out loud…aren’t humans the funniest species? So glad we got to share the Lopezian spirit with you two…life is gooood!
We were delighted to share Lopez with you two, Diana. Can we entice you and John to come up for another art-on-the-beach day next year? Perhaps an orca created of driftwood??