Well you can probably guess it, but it was another beautiful day on the water! Today, Captain Pete and myself, were accompanied by a small group of passengers who were eagerly awaiting to get out on the water and find some wildlife! Captain Pete isn't one to disappoint, and with a few sightings of Residents on the westside, M/V Sea Lion was ready to find them. Our intention was to meet up with J Pod along the north end of San Juan Island, but the orcas had other plans for us when they decided to turn south. We had to play a bit of catch up, but once we were on scene with members of J Pod , it was well worth the effort! The resident pod was spread out along the shoreline, but all seemed to be chasing their own meals under the surface. These whales are continuously chasing down their favorite prey, chinook salmon. Chinook is the fattiest of the salmon, and makes up the majority of our resident orcas diet. Fully grown these orcas can ingest a whooping 200 to 400 lbs of salmon a day! Makes sense that these orcas are constantly on the look out for food, which is awesome for us to see the residence on the prowl! Orcas feeding makes for an awesome day whale watching!
Caitlin, Naturalist, M/V Sea Lion
San Juan Safaris