[Sarah | M/V Kestrel | 09/01/2018 | 10:00am & 02:00pm]
September is here!! My favorite month in the San Juan Islands!! Saturday’s tours on Kestrel did not disappoint, with great wildlife sightings on both tours.
10:00am Adventure Tour
On our morning departure we left the harbor and headed north towards an early report of orcas pushing north. As we crossed Boundary Pass we were treated to sweeping views before we crossed the border and entered the (equally beautiful) Canadian Gulf Islands. We wove our way through Plumper Sound and Navy Channel before popping out at the mouth of Active Pass.
As we ducked our way into the narrow passage we found members of the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whale population pushing north towards the Strait of Georgia. This unique population of orcas is one of the most critically endangered wildlife populations in the world, with only 75 individuals total. We had an amazing encounter as the orcas exited Active Pass and spread out into the nutrient-rich, and hopefully salmon-rich, waters of the Strait. Our best looks of the day were at L87 Onyx and J35 Talequah as they passed our small boat.
After leaving the orcas, we headed back south towards the San Juan Islands, cutting through the spectacular Georgeson Pass on the way.
2:00pm Adventure Tour
Our afternoon tour departed with a great group onboard! With a few reports of orcas in the area from our spotting network to choose from we elected to originally to head south from Friday Harbor in search of whales and other wildlife. Working with all of the other companies in the surrounding area, there are no secrets about wildlife sightings between companies. This allows us to make the most of our time on the water and see as many animals as possible!
Our first stop was at Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass to find some hauled-out Steller’s sea lions. These massive animals are each about the same size as a small Fiat! While we were watching the sea lions, Captain Gabe was making some radio calls to the other whale watch captains in the area deciding where we should head next to give us the best opportunity to find some orcas. We elected to head North, taking the west side of San Juan Island, up towards a report to the north! M/V Kestrel is such a cool boat because she truly affords you the flexibility to make it anywhere in the Salish Sea on our three to four hour trip. On the way towards the orcas we decided to stop to look for some seals and bald eagles along the way!
We found our first group of orcas just north of Johns Island. This group turned out to be a group of Bigg’s killer whales, or transient killer whales. These animals are a totally separate ecotype from our Southern Resident killer whales, genetically and behaviorally isolated from one another even though they inhabit the same waters. The main difference that I like to highlight between these two populations is each of their diet. While Southern Residents are exclusively salmon eaters, Bigg’s are exclusively marine mammal eaters. These dietary preferences dictate the way these orcas move through our ecosystem… counter intuitively, we see more of the Bigg’s killer whales throughout the year than we do of the Southern Residents.
In just a small area we were able to encounter three separate groups of these amazing hunters. The first group we identified as T037 traveling with her daughter T037B’s family, as well as with T034 and her young family, for a total of seven whales in that group. A few miles away we encountered the T099s traveling with the T036A family group, a total of eight whales. Lastly we traveled up into Presidents Channel to find yet another group of orcas traveling south along the shoreline. These whales we identified as the T037A family, with potentially five animals.
It was a truly spectacular afternoon spent with beautiful animals and enjoying the scenery of the Salish Sea!