[Naturalist Sarah – 04/06/2018 – M/V Kestrel – 1:00pm]
Ahhhhhhhhhhh…… flowers blooming, turkey vultures in the air, warm breezes, the sweet melodies of lawn mowers around Friday Harbor….. Spring is here in the San Juans! That means one thing for us here at San Juan Safaris: the much anticipated first M/V Kestrel trip of the season! After a long prep day (shout out to Captain/Naturalist Erick) the boat looked sparkly clean and ready for a summer of adventures!
Captain Brian and I met our intrepid guests at the store to get suited up, talk about wildlife, and get ready to go. With 14 guests we were excited to hit the water. We were super lucky to have an orca report close to home from another of the Pacific Whale Watch Association companies. Working together, local companies are obligated to share whale and wildlife reports… whether there are whales, seals, sea lions, great bald eagles, we know about it!
We were lucky enough to find two Bigg’s killer whales traveling with one another in Griffin Bay, in a very unique social arrangement. T49C (born 1998) is typically thought of as a lone male, which is atypical, not unusual, in itself for a male orca, but he was traveling with a recently dispersed juvenile T065A3! We haven’t seen the T065A matriline in our area in months, so to have this individual show up was very exciting! We watched the two whales swim around and explore a kelp forest in Griffin Bay before they turned and headed north back towards Friday Harbor. We peeled away from the whales o see what other wildlife we could find!
Heading south we encountered harbor seals, hauled out on a rock, a bald eagle swooping over the water, and Steller’s sea lions bellowing and napping on Whale Rocks. We admired Cattle Point lighthouse before venturing out into a buttery smooth Haro Strait to scan for other wildlife in the open water. Ducking behind Long Island, we encountered many more bald eagles, even catching a glimpse of a huge nest up in the trees.
Before heading back to the dock in Friday Harbor, we had a chance to catch back up with the orcas… they were right outside the harbor! It was perfect day that ended with an awesome encounter! First Kestrel trip is in the books, we can’t wait to see what adventures will unfold in the 2018 season!
T049C Sarah McCullagh