Kelly | M/V Kestrel | August 26th 2024 | 2PM
Aboard the M/V Kestrel on our 2pm Adventure tour, we left Friday Harbor with high spirits and turned left to zoom up San Juan Channel. We heard a rumored report of whales around Coal Island, just off shore from Sidney, BC. We quickly curved over the top of San Juan Island and made our way straight across the Canadian border. As we neared Coal Island the rain began, and quite frankly...it never stopped. This amount of participation is unusual for this time of year. Typically, we experience very little rain during the summer season. Although the rain was pouring, the seas were dead calm. Along with some fog hanging in the evergreen trees, this weather was the perfect moody backdrop to our whale watch tour. Through the rain we began to notice exhales in the distance. As we approached, the whales went under for a long dive; Typical behavior for these marine mammals as they are transiting. The anticipation loomed over us as we awaited their return to the surface. The whales last surfacing was at the mouth of a intricate island cluster, they could have gone anywhere... 2 minutes turned into 5 minutes, 10 minutes and then 20 minutes. Eventually, a fellow whale watching vessel picked them up of the coast of Vancouver island, they never went into the island cluster at all! This family is known as the T60's and includes:
- T75B "Pebbles" 1994 F
- T75B2 "Jasper" 2015 ?
- T75B3 "Rubble" 2017 ?
- T75B4 --- 2021 ?
We continued watching this captivating group of 4 as they surfaced in unison. strangely, they swan in one large circle, ending our time with them almost exactly where it started. Our final look at this family was certainly our most memorable. After a particularly long dive, footprints began to appear about 100 yards off our port side. (Footprints are what we call the impression a whale's fluke makes when they are swimming close to the surface of the water. It looks like a slowly expanding circle of flat calm water). The footprints started to appear closer and closer, until a killer whale came in view. This whale was almost completely submerged underwater except for the top inch of his dorsal fin. Such an awe-inspiring experience to see these large animal swimming under the surface suspended in a weightless world- powerful flukes propelling them forward. An experience I wont forget anytime soon.