Friday, June 1, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 PM
What. A. Day! Captain Gabe, myself, and our guests headed out of Friday Harbor this afternoon to a report of whales on the southeast corner of Lopez Island. We started off by heading south through San Juan Channel, stopping at a haul-out of harbor seals which were especially well-camouflaged to resemble the outcropping of rock on which they were resting. We continued south until we reached Whale Rocks where we spotted a sea otter which was swimming around in the strong currents of the Cattle Pass area. This was my very first sea otter sighting and Captain Gabe’s second in four years!
It was such a treat watching the fluff ball stick its head and neck way out of the water as it checked out its surroundings. Further down we saw a large colony of Steller’s sea lions hauled out on the rocks, and quite an impressive raft of them in the waters below! We are expecting these sea lions to depart from the Salish Sea any day as it’s about that time for them to head off to their Alaskan breeding grounds. Luckily, we were able to listen to (and smell) them as they roared while they swam and postured at each other!
We powered around the south end of Lopez Island and met up with the group of Bigg’s killer whales that were traveling up the east side. It was the T49As! This is a group of five orcas that are made up of T49A, the matriarch, and four of her offspring, T49A1, -A3, -A4, and, now, -A5, which is the newest calf, born in late 2017. The group was traveling quickly up the coast before it cut through Lopez Pass. Their movements were difficult to predict so we hung back until we could decipher their path and then followed them into Lopez Sound. They continued north with T49A1, a rebellious 17-year-old male, travelling about a mile to the east of the rest of the group.
Suddenly the teenager was flocked with gulls and we assumed he’d caught some dinner and that the rest of the family would travel over to him to partake, but as we waited with bated breath for the whales to appear far off our starboard side, the orcas had something else in mind, because all-at-once the mom and younger siblings surfaced just off our port! They were right next to the boat, so we turned off the engine and realized these giant dolphins were logging! They floated there at the surface, just resting. Our boat was enraptured in the serenity and awe of what we were witnessing. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful; I was nearly in tears!
The orcas eventually dove and the moment faded as they continued up the sound. We were surprised once more however, when the orcas did an about-face and picked up speed! They were hunting a small group of harbor porpoise which had been swimming by! One unlucky porpoise was then targeted and these giant animals showed us the opposite end of their beauty—their strength, agility, and fierceness shone through as we watched the orcas toss the porpoise in the air with the force of their breaching bodies! After a few throws the porpoise stopped surfacing to breathe and the hunt was over, though, based on the lack of gull-coverage, it seems the orcas took the small cetacean for a ride as they began to socialize a bit. Allowing themselves to relax and goof off a bit without worrying about their next meal, we saw the orcas spyhop and tail-lob and continue through the water.
We left the whales shortly after this and headed back to Friday Harbor, spotting a mated pair of bald eagles guarding the pass between Lopez and Shaw before arriving in the marina shortly after. What an incredible trip to start off our busy summer season! Happy June, everybody! I’m looking forward to a magnificent orca-filled season!