A Beautiful Day on the Water with the T 10s
[Naturalist Alexandria – 09/26/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]
What an awesome day on the water we had! Naturalist Courtney and myself were so excited to begin our trip today, as we knew our Captain had received reports of Transient, or Biggs Orcas, being in the area! We eagerly greeted our new friends that would be joining us on our trip for the next few hours, boarded everyone onto M/V Sea Lion, and were off!
It wasn’t long before we found these gorgeous orcas! We met up with them in West Sound, off of Orcas Island. Mount Constitution was standing proudly to one side, and the T 10s were swimming by on the other. We couldn’t have asked for a better setting for this trip to take place!
We were able to identify these Transients Orcas as T 10 and T 10c, and thus were looking at a mother and her son. T 10 was born in 1963 making her 54 years old, and T 10c was born in 1999 making him a mere 18 years old, though his dorsal fin towered over his mama’s!
We got to watch as they exhibited quintessential hunting behavior, slowly swimming and scanning the shoreline for any unsuspecting harbor seals, as well as taking moments to do dives to check for prey. These two were very much in sync, and it was evident to everyone on board that this mom and son were close, as well as being efficient in their hunting behaviors.
After this great encounter of the T 10s we headed to find some more wildlife viewing opportunities! We were treated to some adorable harbor seals while sailing through Mosquito Pass. They were hauled out on a rock in the sunshine, and looked to be very much enjoying their naps. They were the perfect icing on an already great day watching those orcas! What a wonderful day on Sea Lion!
Cheers! -Naturalist Alexandria