Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | September 28th, 2024| 12:30pm
Saturday out on the water was SO fun! We headed south through San Juan Channel making a brief stop at Goose Island where we saw Harbor Seals, Double Crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants before passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and exploring the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After transiting past heaps of Surf Scoters, we came across a large bait ball where we were able to see one of the few Minke Whales in the Salish Sea. However, we decided not to stay too long as there was a family of Bigg’s Killer Whales further southwest we wanted to go see.
This wasn’t just any family, but one of those most infamous among this ecotype- the T046B’s. While her mother, T046 “Wake” was declared deceased in 2023, she left behind a huge legacy in these waters. She was captured in Budd Inlet in 1976 but was eventually released and went on to have some of the most descendants below her, including great-grandcalves. Additionally, T065B “Raksha” has become quite well known herself when her calf T046B5 became the first observed victim of infanticide in killer whales. Additionally, her grand-calf T046B1B “Tl’uk” became famous between 2018-2021 as a “white whale” who had an overall decrease in pigmentation of his body and became progressively lighter in color the older he got.
On our way back to Friday Harbor, we stopped at Whale Rocks to see the Steller’s Sea Lions who are coming back in large numbers as they are getting ready to spend the winter months in the Salish Sea. These sea lions are the world’s largest and can grow up to 12 feet long and 2,400 pounds! This was an overall memorable trip on the last weekend in September.