I've been trying to see a whale for two years. Living this close to the San Juan Islands has put "Free Willy" fantasies in my head of orcas leaping out of the sea to perform. Until last week, the closest I came was in Port Townsend, where I got a fleeting glimpse of a minke whale. But the minke is the rodent of the sea, as far as I'm concerned. I wanted bigger, faster and stronger. I wanted the captain to say "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

With the start of National Whale Watching Week March 25, I booked a three-hour gray whale cruise with high hopes. While I didn't see magnificent acrobatics, I spent time watching a gray whale and her calf feeding near Whidbey Island and learned a bit about the enduring creatures.

Thousands migrate from their breeding grounds in Mexico to feed in Alaska each year. A small group strays into nearby Saratoga Pass, which was our destination, to snack on shrimp. Our mother and calf went on four-minute dives, returning to the surface after each one to blow and then show their tails, or flukes. Spotting them became a "Where's Waldo?" game for guests. We learned that gray whales, which weigh in at nearly 40 tons, have returned from near extinction twice, which made the sighting even more important.


Mosquito Fleet gray whale watching cruises leave from the Everett Marina, and are scheduled on select days until April 9. Cruises will resume with the start of orca season April 22.

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