Elle | M/V Kestrel | July 15, 2022 | 2:00pm
We saw all sorts of wildlife on today’s adventure tour. We followed the interisland ferry route from Friday Harbor between Shaw Island and Lopez Island towards Orcas Island through Upright Channel and Harney Channel. This is where we came across two fifteen-year-old male Orca whales, T65A3 and T49A2 who have been perusing the Salish Sea together for the last few days. The boys even “mugged” our boat when they swam directly underneath us while our engines were turned off. We got a rare super-close look at these majestic creatures. The scene got pretty busy with recreational vessels and a few other whale watch boats, so we followed reports of another group of whales farther north. We found the second group, three more Bigg’s killer whales between Reuben Tarte park on San Juan Island and Speiden Island. This was a family group, following matriarch T65B. To wrap up our tour, we circumnavigated Speiden Island where we saw a surplus of non-native, imported Mouflon Sheep grazing on grass and Bladderwrack kelp. Nearby, a bald eagle feasted on the carcass of a harbor seal pup. This scene was brutal and a little sad, but spectacular in the sense that we got to see the massive scavenger bird bending over the tiny pup, a rare sight to see. As we headed back to Friday Harbor we got yet another look at the T65Bs as they cruised back down south. This was truly an action-packed adventure tour!