Waking up to a windy forest and a text about how windy it would be out on the channel today, I had no high expectations for whale watching. I arrived at the dock and knew we probably weren’t going to make it to the West side of the island The Resident Killer whales were spotted there last but due to the unsheltered waters it would be too rough for us to get there. Instead, I spoke with Captain Gabe and he had other orcas in mind, a Transient pod was just a short drive out of the harbor. This group has been hanging out around the islands for a couple of weeks now and I am always excited to see them and observe their young calf. Captain Gabe, naturalist Eric and I along with our almost full boat headed out of the harbor up San Juan Channel. As we approached the entrance of President’s Channel and the south end of Waldron, we encountered a couple of sailboats and whale watching boats entertained by transient orcas. We followed them up the West side of Waldron watching the teenage bull fall behind and then join the rest of the pod over and over. The young calf with this group surfaced a couple of hundred yards away from our vessel a few times and everyone’s heart melted, or at least mine does every time! After about half an hour of being with these orcas, we decided to leave them and head towards Boundary Pass to find other animals. Little did we know, we didn’t have to go very far; about 300 yards off our vow was another pod of orcas headed our way! This seemed to be a larger pod and they were being very social- tail slapping, spy hopping, and breaching. Just from this, I thought to myself, “Residents”. I didn’t want to be wrong and get the guests hopes up, so I didn’t say anything. As they approached our boat, Eric and I got a better look at their saddle patches and identified them as Residents. This was the first time I had seen Resident and Transient orcas in such near proximity! They don’t tend to share their waters often and is a rare sight to see them both from one point. How cool! These guys were part of L and it was my first time seeing them this summer. We stayed with them for as long as we could before going down John’s pass to check out some harbor seals and head home. A trip I will never forget. What an amazing start to my Summer Solstice!
Mariana, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris