09/01/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM
Today some of our best known transient orcas were on the North side of Orcas Island, not a far boat ride from Friday Harbor.
We headed up president’s channel where we looked at some beautiful seaside homes and saw some wildlife including some harbor seals and harbor porpoises. We then headed around the North side of Orcas Island where we got a beautiful view of Mt. Baker. Mt. Baker is about 10,500ft in elevation and is part of the Northern Cascade mountains in mainland Washington. On a clear day you can even see Mt. Rainer on the south side of San Juan, which is about 140 miles away from us!
We took in some beautiful views and wildlife and then came into the area where the orcas had been sighted. We saw all fives whales in the family of the T65A’s. Generally, orcas families will always travel together, but they are able to communicate very far distances, so sometimes we might not see all of the individuals but that doesn’t mean they are no longer with their family.
We were lucky enough to get a great look at the whales and even got the opportunity to see a rainblow! Rainblows are creates by the exhalation or the ‘spout’ of the whale, when the vaporization reflects perfectly in the sun it creates a rainbow above the whale.
All in all it was an exceptional day out on the water for the naturalists and the guests.
Rachel A.