Jordan | May 25, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 trip
As 11:00 am rolled around, the rain was still pouring down. But all our guests were troopers! So we embraced the soggy adventure and headed out into the fog! Navigating purely on GPS technology as the islands hid behind layers of mist, we wound our way around the San Juan Islands.
Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel and we headed north through the San Juan Channel passing by Spieden Island as we headed into Canadian waters! Then suddenly we slowed as we reached East Point off the eastern tip of Saturna Island. The rain seemed to lighten up as we saw our first whales! 2 humpbacks emerged from the water, exhaling their 20 foot blows high in the air. People were very excited as we watched this pair swim and dive. Beautiful sighting.
Then we headed west, staying in Canada until we spotted Orca whales near Moresby Island! It was the T65As! These Transient Orcas are the marine mammal eating ecotype of Orca so they have a very stealthy lifestyle. They swam really close together basically touching each other. These animals are really tactile so it's important for them to have this bonding time as they touched each other.
Then suddenly, the family of whales turned around and headed straight towards our boat! It was incredibly exciting to see them pass so close to us. It allowed us to see every detail and hear them breathe! Really amazing. It felt like we truely connected with these animals.
Eventually we headed back to Friday Harbor and although everyone was very wet, we considered it a very successful day.