Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | July 10, 2022 | 10:00am & 2:00pm
10:00am
As we departed from Friday Harbor on today’s adventure tour, we reviewed the many possibilities of wildlife we could spot and some of the tips and tricks in identifying each individual. We memorized the 15-20 foot spout of a Humpback Whale, the bobbing head of a Harbor Seal, and the piercing black dorsal fin of a Killer Whale, all with the hopes of actually spotting one of these animals.
We traveled northwest, first through San Juan Channel, then across Spieden Channel seeing Harbor Seals hauled out at low tide. Across Haro Strait, we reached Mandarte Island, known to be a major Seabird nesting colony! It amazed me to see the thousands of Gulls, Cormorants, and Pigeon Guillemots nestled in the rocky cliffs or building their haystack-like nests. As we rounded the corner, expecting to continue our search for more wildlife, our passengers spotted 2 male killer whales! These Bigg’s Killer Whales were making non-directional circles within the range of 3-4 miles. We can just imagine these two boys, both traveling away from their moms, were on a playdate exploring the kelp forest and chasing seals and porpoises under the surface. We were stoked to find these two whales and spent as much time with them as possible, ID’ing them as T49A2 (Jude) and T65A3 (Amira).
2:00pm
By the time for our second tour of the day, we urgently wanted to return to see those whales before they departed too far out of our range and into Canada. Luckily, these boys were continuing the same behavior of loops and circles. On route, we saw some Harbor Seal moms swimming around with their newborn pups, which must be less than a month old! We went through New Channel, seeing the backside of Spieden Island, and reached the same two Bigg’s Killer Whales right about where we left them. At this point, the whales turned south and decided it was time to make moves. They criss-crossed one another, some surfacinges splitting the channel, while others swimming next to one another. As the two males decided to take a turn towards the coastline of Vancouver Island, we split off from them to come across a reported Humpback Whale, ID’d as Orion! Another young male returning to the place he was first brought to for the feeding season, it was spectacular to see him striking out on his own, taking long dives for food and strong surfacings up above. Overall, it was a remarkable day to be out on the water viewing wildlife!