Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/11/19 | 11:00am
Today was so fun!
We got incredibly lucky as Captain Gabe and I headed out of Friday Harbor and basically found a whale immediately!
We first spotted a bald eagle up in the trees near the harbor! We stopped to check him out and watch him perched up in a tree, scanning his surroundings for any fish!
Then, we joined our whale! We identified him as T65A2 swimming by himself up the east side of San Juan! And he was booking it. Swimming super fast, and maybe on a mysterious mission, we watched this beautiful transient orca whale. Maybe he was looking for food, maybe he was travelling to meet up with his family somewhere! Unfortunately, we may never know!
It was really lovely watching him swim and dive and show us his massive dorsal fin. But it’s amazing to think that he’ll actually grow even bigger as he becomes more mature. He’s only 15 years old! Which is relatively young for an orca whale.
Eventually, we followed him up to Roche Harbor, then left him to continue on his way. We boated around Speiden Island and up towards the Cactus Islands. We meandered over towards John’s Pass and into Boundary Pass.
We then boated into Canadian waters up to the Java Islets near Saturna Island! Here we found harbor seals! Some were basking on the rocks and some were in the water! We also saw another bald eagle! Really amazing!
We boated all throughout that area, looking for more wildlife and enjoying the beautiful day out on the water.
Eventually, we headed back home! What a great day!