I went on a whale watch last weekend out of Anacortes, Washington, with Mystic Sea Charters and had a great time. I had gone on whale watches with Mystic Sea three other times and viewed Orca (Killer) whales in the waters around the San Juan Islands.  On last Saturday’s trip we again saw quite a few Orca whales, but were also lucky to see two Humpback whales, not as common in the area as Orcas.

The humpbacks would cruise along the surface of the water for a while, as seen in the photo below, then would dive underwater for five minutes or so before resurfacing.  Just prior to each dive, the whales would slap their tail on the water. In the photo above, the whale has just done a tail slap and is beginning a dive.

Another shot below of the second humpback slapping its tail.