M/V Sea Lion was all boarded and ready to go along with Captain Pete, naturalist Jordan and myself. The sunset trip was sounding like a good one already with a report of southern resident orca within our range. The only problem was, we didn’t know whether to head south or north to get around to the West side of the island from Friday Harbor. We were hesitant that if we went one way versus the other, they would keep moving the opposite way and away making it harder for us to catch up to them. Captain Pete went with his gut and headed up the San Juan Channel. We rounded the northern tip of San Juan and spit out into the Haro Strait, where the wind was picking up and you could see some white caps in the distance. The water started splashing on our deck and some of us were getting spray making the trip a bit more adventurous. Although, white capping, the water looked perfect and the view of the Canadian islands was quite clear.
After crossing Kellet Bluff, which was the roughest point on our path today, the waters significantly calmed down and off in the distance we could see some spouts and dorsal fins coming up! Orcas! There they were, the amazing southern residents still in our waters after over a week. As we came closer to them, we could tell these guys were members of Jpod. They had been hanging around the islands for a couple of days just going up towards the Fraser River and then back down again on the west side of San Juan islands, just like old times.
We watched the two groups socialize and what we hoped to be feeding. Staying yards away and observing their behavior for a while, we even got to see some tail slaps and a few breaches from one of the calves. This calf is said to be looking skinny (perhaps signs of undernourishment) by researchers in the area, so to see her breach is really special.
After about an hour of watching these orca grace us with their presence, we were forced to pull away to get back home in time. Captain Pete turned around and headed back up the Haro Strait with the sun starting to set in front of us. The ride home was pleasant and calm and the skies were getting painted with warm colors as the sun went down.
Mariana, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris