It appears that fall is here, as the weather is constantly keeping us guessing. Rain? Shine? A combination of both within the space of 10 minutes? Sure, why not. That's what we love about our island home. And, staying true to the theme of San Juan Safaris (always embracing adventure and the beauty and unpredictability of nature!) we left the drizzly harbor this past Saturday with a decision to search for our whale friends down south.
We cruised down around whale rocks, checked out some of our massive Stellar Sea Lion friends, admired the beautiful cormorants and multiple species of gulls, and then motored off towards Salmon bank to investigate some reports of minke whales. As soon as we arrived at the channel marker, however, Captain Mike gave us some exciting updates. Transients, or Bigg's Killer Whales, had been spotted about 5 miles south of us! Excited, and stoked that the rain had finally stopped, we picked up speed and headed towards the general area of the reports.
Sure enough, we had only to drive for about 10-15 minutes before we saw our first beautiful dorsal fin slicing through the surface! It appeared that we were with the T100's, along with a couple of other adult males. The pod was moving slowly southeast, gracing the surface with their beautiful breaths before submerging again. As always, it was hypnotic to watch their movements and interactions with each other. Naturalist Erick and I chatted with our wonderful passengers about the amazing biology of these animals, and we were able to hang out with them for a good amount of time before we had to head back towards the harbor. It was a beautiful experience for all of us onboard.
What a day! I love how these adventures always keep us on our toes. Have a wonderful week, everyone!
A large male transient orca surfaces