Olivia | M/V Osprey | June 17th, 2021 | 12:30pm
Wowzers was today an incredible day we experienced! We were able to watch a Humpback Whale right outside Friday Harbor and fluked with every dive! This led us to amazing views of the sparkling salt water gracefully dripping off the tail of this ocean giant. Nearby we even saw Harbor Porpoise presumably feeding on similarly sized bait fish, and heaps of migratory birds casually diving within San Juan Channel. Continuing north during our search for whales, we caught word of something we rarely see each season.
Talk about a “T Party!” We were lucky enough to travel north around the island and come across multiple family groups off County Park on San Juan Island- totaling around 21 total Orcas! This included some familiar favorites considered to be an “Intercoastal Specialization” that return to these waters commonly during the summer months- just not necessarily traveling together! We had the privilege of seeing the T065A’s, T034’s, T036, T036B’s, T037, T037B’s, and T086A’s (who personally I have never seen before)!
We witnessed lots of surface behaviors such as breaching, lobtailing, dorsal slaps, pectoral fin slaps, spyhops, etc.. common behavior when we have a lot of families together socializing and celebrating. Similar to how I’m sure we all feel after this crazy pandemic year and lack of seeing our friends and families.
I still am in awe of the day we experienced, and while this is what’s often expected by our passengers, it just isn’t always the case. Remembering that these whales are sentient, free-willed beings that could literally be anywhere and we just so happened to be in the area and they decided to come together. It is something that will forever put us at a loss for words, but incredibly grateful we could experience another piece of this wild world.