Each spring, quiet but impressive visitors show up in the waters between Everett and Whidbey Island. The gray whales, about a dozen each year, visit in spring, eat all the ghost shrimp they can, and then depart to continue their long journey to Alaska.
Even though they’re huge, larger than a school bus, if you want to really see the whales, you need to get out on the water. On Saturday, a new boat, the Chilkat Express operated by Puget Sound Express, will begin offering whale watching tours out of Edmonds. For now, trips head up to see the gray whales. Once the grays have started to move on, and orca watching season begins, the company will begin offering half-day trips to the San Juans from Edmonds.
The company, Puget Sound Express, has been running whale watching tours for 30 years. It’s a family operation. Pete Hanke, his wife Sherri, and their children Christopher and Sarah all play a role. Christopher captains the boats and Sarah shares her naturalist knowledge. Pete’s parents, Peter Hanke and Marcia, started the business with Pete and still play a role in it.
Puget Sound Express took its maiden trip from Edmonds recently. The trip began, like all of its trips, with blueberry buckle (it’s like coffee cake.) Sherri Hanke has been making it for decades, and it’s become a tradition.
On the way out of the marina, passengers cooed over a baby seal lounging near the jetty. The boat cruised up to the area between Hat Island and the mouth of the Snohomish River estuary, where the whales like to hang out. The trip takes about 25 minutes. After a bit of watching, Sarah Hanke was the first to spot a spout. She took some good-natured teasing from her brother when the whale took its time before finally appearing again, and hanging around to give passengers a good view.
The whale turned out to be Little Patch, a gray that’s been identified in the area each year for 24 years.
In between watching Little Patch, passengers were able to admire the views of the Cascades and Mount Baker. Porpoise made a brief appearance. A bald eagle was spotted perching on a log. Some ducks floated and flew nearby. Pete Hanke says that they often see sea lions on their trips, as well as a variety of other wildlife.
Once the boat begins making trips to the San Juans, passengers will get a chance to see that wildlife on the trip, while enjoying the views out the large windows. The boat was once a ferry, and has a comfortable passenger cabin.
Pete Hanke has always wanted to run tours from Edmonds. The pieces to make it happen, though, didn’t fall into place until they got a new boat.
The Chilkat Express is a foilcat, an interesting combination of a catamaran and a hyrdofoil. It has the double hull of a catamaran, along with an underwater wing that provides lift, making the boat faster. At its top speed, it’s the fastest passenger vessel on Puget Sound, according to the company. It can travel at more than 60 mph and its typical cruising speed is about 38 mph.
The boat’s speed makes it possible to offer a half-day orca watching trip from Edmonds.
Pete Hanke talks about the Chilkat Express with affectionate pride. The boat was built in 2000 in Bellingham at All American Shipyard. It was formerly a passenger ferry in Puget Sound and Alaska, and it has a long history in his family.
His father, Peter Hanke, once helped run the boat in Alaska. Peter eventually moved back to the Puget Sound area, but twice when the boat needed massive work, the Klukwan Tribe, which owned the boat, asked him to oversee the work. After the most recent retrofit, Peter and Christopher Hanke brought the boat to the Puget Sound.
Puget Sound Express is leasing the boat for the summer to use for the orca trips, with an option to buy it later.
Sarah Hanke has been watching whales most of her life. This year, she is excited by the news of new baby whales, and looking forward to orca trips.
“Over the years, I’ve seen the whales I’ve grown up with have babies,” she said. “They’re like family.”
If you go
Puget Sound Express is offering gray whale watching from Edmonds Marina on Saturdays and Sundays through the end of April. The trips leave from the marina, just south of the Anthony’s restaurant, parking area 9. Trips last for 2 and half hours and cost $85. If you don’t see whales, you can take another trip for free.
Trips to the San Juans begin May 23 and will run through the end of September.
www.seattle.pugetsoundexpress.com.
Gray whales
Gray whales are between 40 and 50 feet long and weigh about 30 to 40 tons. Each year, the whales swim about 12,500 miles round trip from Alaska to Mexico. The whales have their calves in the warmer waters of Mexico before returning north to feed. About 10 to 12 of the whales, known as the Saratoga grays, come to feed in the area around Whidbey Island, Camano Island, and the mouth of the Snohomish River every year in early spring. They stay for up to a few months before continuing their journey north.
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