Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | October 13, 2024 | 12:30 pm
October weather can be tricky out here in the Salish Sea. Luckily for our Classic Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour last Sunday, we were granted calm seas and sunny skies. Although the elements can sometimes prove tricky, Fall is a spectacular time to come whale watching in the San Juan Islands. Not only do we still regularly see killer whales, but we start to get a massive influx of migrating humpbacks as well. By October, most of the humpback whales have moved south from Alaska and have started their annual migration back to their breeding and calving grounds. While heading south, many of these whales will cruise into the Salish Sea to get one last fill of food before continuing down the coast of the United States. The Salish Sea is an extremely nutrient rich ecosystem, many small schooling fish, like herring, sand lance and pollock thrive here.
Before leaving the dock, Captain Eric had notified us on a report of two humpback whales heading up the westside of San Juan Island. We left Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel. On our way north we passed several “feeding frenzies.” A feeding frenzy is when a large group of birds are feeding on a school of fish. A lot of times these fish are drawn to the surface by a predator underneath. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some of these predators, as a group of harbor porpoise were actively feeding on one of the bait balls. Our next stop was to the Cactus Islands to look at some harbor seals. We then cruised through Johns Pass and headed towards Canada. Once over the border, we caught up with those two humpback whales. These whales are known as BCY1222 “Hammer” and BCX1658 “Bullet.” Bullet is female and was first sighted back in 2015. Hammer’s sex is still unknown, and they were first sighted back in 2019. Hammer was fluking almost every dive, which was super interesting to witness. Normally humpback whales only bring their flukes out of the water when they go on their deeper dives. Safe travels Hammer and Bullet! Hope to see you next year.