We could not have asked for a better spring weather out on the M/V Sea lion today. We started our day with reports of whales on the North side of Orcas Island. On our way up to the area we spotted some harbor seals swimming in the water and some bald eagles flying up ahead.
We arrived on scene to a pod of transient orcas formally known as the T49A’s. This pod is made up of 4 individuals including the 31 year old matriarch and her three offspring; a 14 year old adult male, a 5 year old juvenile male, and a 2 year old juvenile who’s sex is currently unknown. Once male orcas reach sexual maturity, around the age of 12-14 years, their dorsal fins will begin to sprout and can grow up to 6 feet tall by the time they are 18. Until sexual maturity you cannot tell the sex simply by looking at the animal’s dorsal fin, you need to get a good look at the underside of the whale in order to tell if that individual it is a male or female.
When we first saw the animals they appeared to be hunting, most likely for those adorable little harbor seals, which generally make up about 80% of their diet. We were also lucky enough to see two individuals spy hop at the surface of the water. We were able to spend quite a bit of time with the whales, as they appeared to be hugging the shoreline of Orcas Island in hopes of finding a substantial meal. After spending a good amount of time with the T49A’s we decided to head to Flattop Island to look for some harbor seals hauled out on the rocky shore and some bald eagles perched in trees.
We then went on the West side of Spieden Island and spotted a large heard of Mouflon Sheep, which were brought to the island back in the 1960’s. Swimming just South of Spieden Island were a large number of Steller’s Sea Lions. These massive animals, around 2500 pounds at their largest, seemed to be fishing around the area. Our guests had a wonderful whale and sun filled day out on the water.
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