Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 21sh, 2024 | 12:30pm
After pouring all morning, the rain finally lifted as we motored out of Friday Harbor and into San Juan Channel. The sun was even peeking out from the overcast sky and the water was flat calm. We certainly did not have to travel far today; whales were reported right outside the harbor! A group of 3 Biggs Killer Whales known as the T124A’s
- T124A Kittywake 1984 F
- T124A6 Kasuun 2016 M
- T124A7 ----- 2021 F
This group is made up of mom (kittywake) and her two youngest kids. Although getting to the whale’s reported location was easy…finding them was an entirely different story. Typically whales swim in a pattern that includes a sequence of breaths followed by a longer dive. It was clear after quite a few minutes of waiting and watching that these whales were indeed on a longer dive. Eventually the trio surfaced in the middle of the channel, all three dorsal fins at noticeably different heights. This family remained non directional almost the entire time we watched them. After almost every long dive, surfacing in a different direction. At one point, the 2021 youngster of the group suddenly began porpoising repeatedly in one direction! Porposing is behavior the occurs when orcas move very fast at the surface, launching the upper half of their body out of the water in the process. This went on for a solid 5 minutes, his family slowly trailing behind. Was this a severe case of the zoomies? Was he chasing something? We’ll never know with 100% certainty, but it sure is fun to speculate. Some other fun behaviors observed included an impressive tail lob and some belly up pec fin slapping.
After departing the T124A’s we made a quick trip over to the notorious Whale Rocks for awesome looks at Steller Sea lions. This time of year, we especially see large numbers of these massive pinnipeds clustered on the rocks. Of course, up to their usual mix of sleeping, swimming, fighting and belching.
On this tour we spent more time around wildlife than we did transiting, and that is rarely the case. It’s so magical when whales visit us right in our own backyard.