Today was a classic resident killer whale watching day. When we headed out of Friday Harbor we had reports of orcas all up and down the west side of San Juan Island, from Pile Point to the south end of Henry Island.
After heading south past Griffin Bay and moving through Cattle Pass, we noticed some Steller's sea lions laying out on a rocky island. These sea lions migrate every spring from California to Alaska and back in the fall, often stopping by our area on their way there and back. When we got closer, we noticed some harbor seals hauled out as well, so we got lots of awesome pinniped looks!
We scooted farther around the west side of the island and spotted blows and dorsal fins dotting the horizon and the shoreline. J and K pod were both in the area, and were scattered throughout Haro Strait. As we moved farther up, we quickly found ourselves surrounded by whales! We observed J-27 Blackberry as he perused the area, likely fishing below the surface, and even got to see a few pectoral flipper slaps before we moved on. A little farther north we found the entire K13 family group, including K-pods most recent calf, Ripple, who was born in 2011. After some more amazing looks at the southern residents, including some breaches, tail slaps, and spyhops, we headed back down the island to turn back for Friday Harbor.