[Sarah – 05/11/2018 – M/V Kestrel – 1:00pm]
Ahhhhhhhhh… another great spring day in the Salish Sea, perfect for taking the speedy M/V Kestrel out on the water! After getting suited up, we headed out to explore this beautiful inland sea! Captain Mike and I decided to head North towards the Canadian Gulf Islands for the day. As much as previous days’ reports do not forecast sightings, the northern reaches of our range at the mouth of the Strait of Georgia have been off the hook recently in terms of wildlife sightings.
On our way north we stopped to check out some seals and bald eagles, before pushing north into Boundary Pass, where we encountered a humpback whale! The massive whale was slowly swimming giant loops in the pass, taking short dives, and most likely munching on some baitfish or krill. Looking at the whale’s dorsal fin we realized that the animal was BCX1210 “Slate,” who in the last couple of weeks has become quite the local for us here in the San Juan Islands. After a beautiful fluke-up dive, we peeled away from the whale to look for some other wildlife.
Leaving the humpback we headed northeast towards East Point on Saturna Island to check out some Steller’s sea lions, before zooming over to Patos and Sucia Islands, where there was a group of killer whales reported! As we arrived on scene we realized pretty quickly that we were looking at a group of Bigg’s killer whales, which are marine mammal-eaters. As we watched, the whales harassed a group of harbor porpoise at the surface, before abruptly making a directional change. Looking at their dorsal fins and saddlepatches, we ID’ed the whales as the T123s, a family of comprised of three whales led by matriarch T123 “Sidney.” Her two kiddos are an awesome duo, of eighteen-year-old T123A “Stanley” and his little sister T123C “Lucky,” who is six years old. After their abrupt direction change, they popped up right next to M/V Kestrel, so we shut down our engine allowing them to pass. It was an incredible look at these huge animals. The whales continued on their way and we headed off to look for some other wildlife.
Cruising back towards Friday Harbor, we stopped to check out some seals, some geology of the area, and even an active bald eagle nest! It was a fantastic day in the Salish Sea.
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