With early news of orca spottings, today’s tour headed north towards the U.S./Canadian international border. Once we reached Turn Point we saw a few boats in the area and began our search. Within a quick ten minutes we had spotted two members of J-pod, our southern residents, and were able to follow them, watching them mill around and rise above the water's surface.
After about twenty minutes we moved on with our search and headed back southwest. It only took a couple hundred yards until we saw the next group, and from then on it seemed as though the boat became part of the pod itself. You could view multiple groups from J-pod, with about 3-4 individuals each, in all directions. It was a great feeling to be one with the pod! Everyone was fascinated and fingers were pointing in all directions passengers yelling, “Oh look, over there! Over there! And over there!” One whale in particular, was even a bit curious, and did a small Spy Hop rising vertically out of the water, head first, allowing us to see the entire upper half of his body! It was a great day for whales, but that’s not all….
On our way back around the Spieden Island we were able to see all kinds of wildlife including Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Cormorants, Steller Sea Lions, Sika Deer, and Mouflon Sheep. The weather was nice, the water was nice, and the wildlife was nice. What a trip!
Naturalist, Tara