A lot can change in the span of a few hours out here in the Salish Sea. By the time our 2:00 tour came around the weather had cleared up, the sun was out, and more whales had been spotted in the region! Like our morning tour, Kestrel flew north. This time however, we continued past Spieden island, up and over the US/Canadian border and towards South Pender island where reports of Biggs Killer whales sparked a few hour before.
Initial reports consisted of 6-7 whales but boy were we in for a surprise! Upon our arrival we realized we were seeing something far more grand. After some photo identification we identified four different families, T065A5, the T099s, and the T137s- 14 whales in total!
Many of them moved in unison, surfacing in a long line of 1-8 whales. T137A “Jack” trailed slightly behind the rest, his tall 6 foot dorsal instantly identifying him. The parade of whales continued east, past Java rocks where dozens of seals sat frozen, and onward along Saturna Island. Now given T099 and T123 are assumed to be sisters we may have been fortunate to witness a little, at least partial, family reunion!
We left the reunion as they continued into Saturna’s no-go zone. From here we turned back into the US, through Johns pass and into the Haro Strait where we stumbled upon two humpback whales! Wind from the south nocked us around as we admired the whales off our Starboard side. The whales didn’t seem to mind though! We continued paralleling them as they moved north. One of them even fluked for us and thanks to some quick video captures from guests we were able to identify it as BCY-0409, aka “Yogi.”
Kestrel made it back to Friday Harbor as the sun began to descend the islands horizon. Thank you for all the guests who joined us today, that was a truly exceptional trip and a highlight of my season so far!