Helena
6/24/22
Kestrel
2pm
We headed southeast through Lopez Sound and Thatcher Pass to Cypress Island, where we’d gotten word of a humpback surfacing nearly 200 yards from the south coast of the island. Humpbacks are baleen whales and they migrate to the Salish Sea each summer to their feeding grounds. Our highly productive waters bring a wide variety of small schooling fish, such as herring, mackerel and sand lance, that these humpbacks will eat up to 3,000 pounds of every day! We watched this whale take deep dives along the shoreline before getting word of a Bigg’s Killer Whale pod not too far north!
The T065As sure did not disappoint! Once we caught up to this family of six we observed an abrupt change in speed and direction as they slowed down and began making tight circles in Bellingham Channel off of Guemes Island. There was lots of thrashing and at one point one of the T065As did a headstand, launching his or her tail fluke into the air, providing fantastic views of the white coloration of the underfluke and belly. It doesn’t get much better than that!
While we of course do not know for certain, this change in behavior and quick thrashes throughout the water may indicate that this family was on a hunt for a meal. The Bigg’s Killer Whale ecotype feeds on smaller marine mammals, including harbor seals and porpoises, and will eat anywhere from 150-400 pounds of food per whale every day! Once the group continued on their journey north we observed another behavior known as porpoising in which these cetaceans would push themselves at speed just at the surface of the water allowing them to glide and splash on their bellies.
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the dock and I was left feeling energized and evermore amazed by the Salish Sea!