M/V Sea Lion | May 6th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria
Today was a beautiful day! Not only did we get spend a generous amount of time with our Resident Orcas in the area- but we also had a gorgeous, sunny day with Mt. Baker and the Olympics as the backdrop to our amazing afternoon!
As we boarded onto M/V Sea Lion we already knew it was going to be a beautiful day, but we had no idea how amazing our looks of these beautiful members of J-Pod would be! We headed south down San Juan Channel- in the direction of the southern part of Lopez Island, where the sighting reports had been coming from.
We stopped at Whale Rocks to check out some awesome Steller Sea Lions that we all piled onto a rocky haul out. They were like a whole bunch of perfectly toasted marshmallows hanging out on these rocks, making noises, growling and having a grand ol time!
We also were treated to some awesome looks at Harbor Seals on the rocks adjacent to the Steller Sea Lions. It isn’t necessarily rare, but it is always a fun sight to see the Harbor Seals and the Steller Sea Lions on the same rocks together- it really puts it into perspective how gigantic these Steller Sea Lions were!
We then continued to head towards Lopez Island and picked up these orcas as they were heading north. As we were approaching we got some glances in the distance of some incredible breaches and belly flops- the orcas we were approaching were definitely showing off! We got some amazing looks at these Resident Orcas as we paralleled them. We stayed with this first group of J-Pod, and got some fantastic looks! After enjoying this group we pushed a little further south and picked up the tailing male. This male had an awesome dorsal fin, probably 5-6 feet tall!
We hung out with this male orca for quite a bit longer, enjoying being the only boat on scene with him. We even got to float with the engine off while this male paralleled us, allowing us to enjoy the beautiful afternoon as well as listen for the blows of exhalations as this orca surfaced!
It was quite an awesome day! Couldn’t have asked for a better group of whales, sunshine, and backdrop for our afternoon!
Until Next Time,
Naturalist Alexandria