Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/28/19 | 5:30pm
This evening was absolutely beautiful. Captain Pete and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of Friday Harbor just as the sun decided to sink a bit lower in the sky.
Hearing hopeful reports up north, we headed up through the San Juan Channel. We passed between Waldron Island and Orcas Island as we boated towards the northeast. We went between Patos and Sucia Islands entering the Strait of Georgia up towards Point Roberts. Here we found the orca whales!
We discovered two pods of orca whales swimming together, cruising through the channel. The water was like glass and the seas were dead quiet as the orcas and our boat glided silently through the massive body of water with no one else around for miles.
Then suddenly, the orcas turned and headed straight towards our boat! Captain Pete shut our engine down to neutral as they passed the bow of the boat. Everyone held their breath as we listened to the orca’s powerful exhalations.
We watched these beautiful creatures for a few more minutes until suddenly they became active! A few of them showed their tails and one stray orca wandered away and seemed to chase after something as it leapt through the air! We spotted one orca moonwalking backwards through the water which was a good indication that there was probably prey sharing happening! Most likely they had caught and killed a seal in the few minutes that they had disappeared under the water. Pretty amazing!
Eventually, we headed back towards San Juan Island as the sun set over the mountains. Mount Baker appeared from behind the clouds and everyone was filled with joy as the tour came to an end.
What a great day.