[Naturalist Sarah – 10/01/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 02:00pm]
Going into October we start to see magical light out on the water and special encounters with wildlife. Leaving the dock in Friday Harbor we didn’t have a report of whales in our area, but at this time of year that rarely means anything for the day’s sighting. Sunday’s trip was a perfect example of how our sighting network, the Pacific Whale Watch Association, works to our customer’s advantage.
Captain Mike steered the M/V Kestrel North through San Juan Channel. We circumnavigated Flattop Island and tried to find a minke whale to no avail in Cowlitz Bay on Waldron Island. After looking for the small mysticete, we headed for Green Point on Spieden Island where we found a float of Steller’s sea lions in the water. The huge pinnipeds were rolling around on the edge of a kelp forest.
We soon received two reports, one right after the other: Humpback whales and killer whales in our area! We decided to take a peek at the orcas before heading to the humpback whale. We encountered the humpback whale just North of Turn Point on Stuart Island. We enjoyed watching the whale surfacing and fluking up in the beautiful afternoon light.
After great time spent with the humpback whale we returned to the killer whales, that by this point had reached the northern end of San Juan Channel. We had the T123 family to ourselves as they crossed from Spieden Island to Flattop Island and then towards Waldron Island, up Presidents Channel. These three whales are some of my favorite individuals. T123 “Sidney” is a very impressive female, who has two beautiful kiddos, male T123A “Stanley” and female T123C “Lucky.”
Leaving the dock with or without wildlife reports has little to no bearing on what you might see on the water. There is no way to forecast reports, and no “best day to be on the water.” Each and every day is different in the Salish Sea!
See all 8 photos
