Today Captain Jim and I left Friday Harbor on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to head north to a report of some of our Southern Resident killer whales rounding Saturna Island, British Columbia. The day was beautiful: sparkling water and blue skies. Boundary Pass was gorgeous: This body of water separates the US and Canada and is one of the widest expanses of water that we spend time in on our trips. As we crossed we started spotting dorsal fins and blows tucked in right next to shore. We had the pleasure of traveling with members of K Pod as they rounded East Point up into the Strait of Georgia. As the whales went up the Strait they began to spread out and go on longer down times as they started to fish. Killer whales are capable of holding their breath for up to 30 minutes, but around here it would be very rare to see a dive time exceeding 5 minutes. We watched that behavior for a while and then decided to go see a second group of whales slowly and socially moving in our direction from South Pender Island. We met up with that group at Java Rocks and, boy, were we treated to a breachfest! Whale after whale took flight and splashed down! We also witnessed many inverted tail slaps (whales lying on their backs splashing with their tails) and spyhops as well! Because of our small group size (11 people) everyone got amazing views and photographs. Another amazing day on the M/V Kittiwake!
Naturalist Sarah, M/V Kittiwake, San Juan Safaris