Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/07/19 | 5:30pm
This sunset tour turned into one of my favorite tours yet!
It all started with Captain Pete, Naturalist Laura and I heading out of Friday Harbor. We couldn’t believe our luck! Immediately, we heard reports of orca whales literally swimming 15 minutes away from us!
We jaunted over to Jone’s Island and found the orcas right away! This amazing orca pod consists of T18 (grandma of the group and one of the oldest females in the region, estimated to be born around 1955), T19 (mother of the pod), T19B (also known as Mr. Floppy Fin and one of the largest males in the whole region), and T19C (born in 2001 and also incredibly large). What an amazing family!
We watched them travel to Flattop island. Flattop is a national wildlife refuge, so the protected island usually hosts an abundance of life. The orcas definitely realized this as they discovered harbor seals along the shoreline and in the water! We watched as the massive whales swam really close to shore and aggressively chased and splashed around as they hunted the seals! It was amazing! You could see the orcas working together to surround an area and then disappear under the water. It was unclear if the whales successfully caught any seals, but, as very effective hunters, they probably enjoyed at least a handful of seals during our trip. We watched as the orcas headed towards a tiny cove and actually chased and trapped a seal into the dead-end area! So intelligent.
Then suddenly the orcas turned and surfaced right next to our boat! It was unbelievable! We all felt so connected to the whales as the powerful animals passed us. You could really see every detail of their blubber, every scratch. We were so lucky.
Eventually, we headed out of the area to explore other islands. We kept spotting multiple bald eagles along the way, hidden up in trees on a few different islands. We intertwined between the Cactus Islands and headed along Spieden Island. Here on Spieden, not only did we spot a perfectly posed bald eagle but also, tons of mouflon sheep! There were herds of sheep roaming the hilly field and we even spotted some huge male sheep with giant swirly horns.
We also spotted sika deer and fallow deer! So much wildlife! Then, just as we reached the edge of Spieden, Laura spotted a peregrine falcon! Beautiful!
Finally, we headed back towards the harbor! But what an awe-inspiring voyage we went on today! So magical.