A day to remember

Yesterday I was at work, sitting at my desk, when I happened to glance up, looking through the double glass doors which look out over Saratoga Passage towards Camano Island. I saw the spray, I believe called spume, from a gray whale as it surfaced for air. I immediately rushed outside to see this wonderful sight.
At first there was only one whale and it was quite a distance out so it was no use taking any pictures as my little camera would just record a small black dot in the middle of the picture.

We have been watching gray whales pass by the spa for the last couple of weeks and have always been delighted to catch a view of these magnificent animals, but today was so fantastic.
I had to go back into the spa for a while to take care of business and thought the whale would probably be gone by the time I went outdoors again, but to my absolute delight they were very close in, but further along in front of The inn. Again they were too far away for good pictures.

I stood there for probably half an hour in awe, watching two whales now, as they twisted and turned in the sands dislodging shrimp for their meal. It was a huge WOW!! to see all this.

I had to return indoors to close for the night and after I had locked up, and turned along the boardwalk towards the five flights of steps to take me back up to the parking lot, I was amazed to see the two whales just about 50 yards from the shore and just along from the front of the spa.
I can tell you, my heart raced to see two whales feeding, and in so close to shore.
I did take the pictures below, but they still are not the best quality, but you can tell I am telling you the truth, they were close in. These pictures were taken from the Inn's office balcony, on the third floor up from the boardwalk.

Here they are churning the sands, to scare up shrimp for dinner.

Up for a breath of air before going down again for more shrimp. The seabirds were eagerly snatching up shrimp the whales dislodged.

These guys are HUGE I sure wish I could have taken better pictures for you to see.

And he is only about half way (lengthwise) out of the water.

This is a day I will always remember. How special to see these magnificent creatures so close. Perhaps I may see more today.