Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 22nd, 2024 | 2:00 pm
Our afternoon brought us on another great adventure in the Salish Sea! We left Friday Harbor under cloudy skies, and quickly made our way north as we had some exciting reports in the Strait of Georgia in Canada. We made a quick stop to look at a group of harbor seals on some islands in San Juan Channel, but soon continued on to the north. As we neared the Canadian border, the rain began to pick up but we were not deterred! We continued traveling quite a ways north, past Saturna and Pender Islands (and out of the rain) and soon began to see a number of boats scattered ahead of us in the strait. As we made our way closer, we finally saw some dorsal fins and blows of Bigg’s/Transient Killer Whales ahead of us, and quickly realized there were many whales in the area! While these whales were a bit spread through the area, there were reported to be at least twenty individuals from over four different matrilines, making this a big T-Party! Right as we got a bit closer to the group, the whales disappeared on a long dive and eventually were spotted again about a mile away. We picked up speed again to catch up with the group, and soon began to get some better looks at a few of the individuals here. One fan favorite that I was personally excited to finally see in person was the large male T063 Chainsaw! Other matrilines reported to be here were members of the T035s, T036s, T036As, T137s, and T065A5. The groups continued to travel through the area, changing behavior from taking long dives to slowly traveling to porpoising. Since they were changing direction and were still a bit spread out, we frequently had whales in many different directions so it was hard to choose where to look!
While our time with the whales was nearing to an end, we suddenly had a group surface ahead of us that were traveling right towards our bow! The group continued coming right at us, and we were treated to incredible looks of at least 10 individuals (including the T036s and T063) slowly traveling along our port side. We watched them pass by us, taking in the sounds of their exhalations and admiring their unique dorsal fins. After this beautiful moment, the whales disappeared on a dive behind us. This was the perfect end to our time with them, and we soon began our travels south back into the US. We enjoyed a rain-free trip through Active Pass, eventually passing Stuart Island and Turn Point Lighthouse, Spieden Island, and finally San Juan Island. We neared Friday Harbor as the sun was coming out, ending another perfect day.
Interested in seeing photos from our trips on M/V Osprey this season? Check out our SmugMug at https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/.