Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | October 12th, 2024 | 12:30pm
We had a full boat of guests on this gorgeous fall afternoon. The sky was clear and the weather was especially temperate for this time of year. After quickly investigating a bait ball (tight concentration of small schooling fish) we took a sharp right turn and motored down san Juan channel past Cattle Point. We were heading toward a reported location of 5 Biggs Killer whales identified as the T35a's made up of:
- T35A "Lester" 1998 F
- T35A1 "Opal" 2010 F
- T35A2 "Topaz" 2013 ?
- T35A3 "Garnet" 2018 ?
- T35A4 ----- 2022 ?
As we made our way over to that location report we were treated to amazing views of the Olympic Mountain range. It almost appeared as if the clouds were floating on top on the low hanging clouds. It didn't take long for dorsal fins to come into view. All 5 family members grouped up at first, but quickly split off into two groups. First group was 200 yards off our starboard side and was made up of Lester, Topaz and the unnamed two year old. The second group was made up of Opal and Garnet and stayed about a half mile away from the first group. This split arrangement was sustained for the duration of our viewing. We stayed close to that first group of 3 and watched them make their way across The Strait of Juan De Fuca. Suddenly, the group took a sharp turn and pointed straight at our boat. We quickly shut the engine off and watched in awe as the group of 3 swan directly under our boat, their full bodies visible under the surface. It was the perfect way to end our wonderful encounter.