Maxx K. | M/V Sea Lion | 04/12/2022 | 12:30pm
I’m never going to forget today’s tour.
It’s not unusual to start a tour without any whale sightings. None of our whales are tagged and we rely on sightings and word of mouth to spot them. The fact of the matter is however, whales are here in the Salish Sea all year round, it’s just a matter of if there are individuals or vessels scanning the water to find them. Well, today we were insanely fortunate as a mere 5 minutes before leaving the Harbor, Bigg’s Killer Whales had been spotted in the San Juan Channel, presumably actively feeding on a Sea Lion.
The families being reported were the T065As and T123s (Brian and I’s personal favorite families):
T065A “Artemis”
T065A2 “Ooxjaa”
T065A3 “Amira”
T065A4 “Ellifirt”
T065A5 “Elsie”
T065A6 “Butterbean”
T123 “Sydney”
T123A “Stanley”
T123C “Lucky”
T123D “Darcy”
We made it to the two families quickly, and me oh my were they fun to watch.
They surfaced to breathe and dive again in unison, spinning their bodies in a whirlpool of whales. Now, it’s always fun to imagine what is going on beneath the water once the whales dive out of sight. Though, from all the gulls flying overhead I presume these families were taking mouthfuls of Harbor Seal or Steller Sea Lion as they passed it back and forth amongst each other. We sat silently bobbing alongside them for quite some time before they began to breach and tail slap.
The first breach was directly behind us. The next off our port. Next, one of the large males, presumably either T065A2 (“Ooxjaa”) or T123A (“Stanley”) began to tail slap. They continued this sloshing, stirring up white water for several minutes before we slowly began to move off.
Sea Lion then tip toed over to Spieden Island to admire a colony of Steller Sea Lions that laid, sunning themselves, on the rocky shoreline of Green Point. They overwhelmed our senses between their endless roaring and overwhelming stench. No shame and perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I absolutely love the smell of a colony of Sea Lions. Those of you that have toured with us know what I’m talking about, and yes, I will admit, it is very weird.
We moved down the shoreline a little more, checking out herds of Muflon sheep and Bald Eagles that roosted above them in the trees. Unfortunately, still no Spieden Sasquatches spotted today, maybe tomorrow.
We peeled away from the island to revisit the whales once more on our way back to Friday Harbor. They had barely moved, maybe 200 years from where we left them. Eagles joined the flurry of gulls that picked off remnants that sprinkled the water’s surface. Some of our guests even note the smell of blubber in the air, a smell akin to ‘melon’ as I’m told. I couldn’t smell it but alas maybe that’s for the best.
Suddenly all at once, they raced off, porpoising through the water back down the San Juan Channel. White water shot out behind them as they must’ve been traveling 25mph at least! They flew!
With that we carried on home too, back into Friday Harbor where we tied back up to our dock and completed an absolutely spectacular tour. I want to deeply thank each and every one of y’all who came out with us today. Y’all were a hoot and half and a pure pleasure to chat with out on the Salish Sea today. Today was truly a day I hope to never forget.