Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | July 19, 2022 | 10:00am & 2:00pm
10:00 am
Today’s trip was a spectacular showing of the abundant wildlife seen around the Salish Sea! We departed from Friday Harbor for our first trip in pursuit of reported killer whales along Vancouver Island, BC. En route, we scanned the glass-calm waters where we spotted Harbor Porpoises surfacing around. Confirmation of two Bigg’s Killer Whales guided us towards Sidney, BC, and James Island. The two orcas were traveling along the coast of James Island remarkably close to shore. They stalled out, taking a deep dive, then surfacing rapidly. We noticed two Harbor Seals in the water with a look of terror. What followed was a full hour of predation activity! The two teenage boys, T49A2 and T65A3, first pursued what is assumed to be the mother Harbor Seal, leaving the newborn pup confused and terrified nearby. The whales were clearly showing off and having fun, wagging their tails in the air and at one point launching the seal into the air. After one successful hunt, the two boys moved onto the pup. Bigg’s Killer Whales are expected to eat 300-400 lbs of food per day to maintain their dietary needs, which results in a few harbor seals per day per whale.
Just as we thought the two were done, they began exhibiting hunting techniques again! We decided to depart following a third successful predation and search for more wildlife. Around the island from there, we found a huge haul out site of harbor seals safely tucked away from where we left the orcas. Some were playing in the kelp while others basked in the sun. We rounded home from there, completing our first wildlife tour of the day!
2:00 pm
We departed for our second tour heading south and made our first stop at whale rocks. We crept around the island to find a dozen Steller’s Sea Lions tousling in the kelp forest. One even leapt through the air like a slippery dog jumping through a ring! They growled and roared and threw each other off the rocks. From there, we pushed west in search of a report of some whales in Haro Strait.
As we made our way through a bait ball of jumping herring, we caught sights of somestack-like blows off in the distance! The mellow, glassy seas contrasted with the surfacings of three Humpback Whales. Bubbles formed just under the surface as these giant baleen whales pushed up to breathe, then slowly diving again. At one point, one individual waved a long, angel-like pectoral fin into the air, seemingly sending us a “Hello!”. We stayed alongside these graceful animals to take in the grandeur of their body morphology and power and eventually departed to continue the search for more animals.
A long haul into the Canadian islands around Sidney, B.C., led us to the same pair of Bigg’s Killer Whales we had seen before. This time, the two boys were on the move, splitting the channel for a while and then cutting back across to one another. One individual took off down Saanich Inlet and the other began porpoising from a mile or two away. After observing these whales navigating the inland Canadian waters, it was time to turn back towards Friday Harbor, hearts full of an abundance of wildlife and beautiful sights!