Naturalist Sarah | 06/29/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm Charter from Roche Harbor
Naturalist Piper, Captain Pete and I had distinct pleasure of hosting a family reunion aboard the M/V Sea Lion. On private charters we can always customize the day to best suite a group’s needs, and yesterday that meant moving the M/V Sea Lion up to Roche Harbor for a departure! We gathered our very excited group, talked a little bit about the wildlife in the area, and then departed the harbor. We shot north as afst as we could… there was rumor of orcas in the Strait of Georgia, just south of Point Roberts. On our journey north we enjoyed smooth seas and great views of the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands.
As we cruised through the placid waters of the Strait of Georgia, we started to see blows and dorsal fins up ahead of us! Orcas! We encountered four different families traveling together: T065As, T099s, T036As, and, a rarity for our waters, T175 and friends! This was the first time I had ever encountered this huge male! He was one of the most impressive animals I have ever had the pleasure of viewing… definitely one of the largest whales in our population of orcas. We had a great encounter with these whales as they socialized all around the boat!
We headed back towards Roche Harbor, giddy about our encounter, and again enjoying the sparkly water around the boat. We caught glimpses of harbor porpoises, and bald eagles as we cruised!