Today we left Friday Harbor with reports of transient orcas in the southern part of Strait of Juan de Fuca near Port Townsend. We headed south of San Juan Island and came across the T137’s, a family of four mammal eating whales. When we first arrived we saw the whales enjoying some prey-sharing time. This is after whales have completed a kill and move on to tearing the carcass apart and sharing it among the family members. We were also lucky enough to see some surface social behaviors. We saw a number of spyhops and even some breaches from one of the juveniles! We even got to see one of my personal favorite behaviors, moonwalking, which is when a whale surfaces backwards. We left the transient orcas and headed back towards Friday Harbor when we found a surprise minke whale! We watched the minke whale as it traveled north. We then stopped at the whale rocks and spotted some Steller’s sea lions and harbor seals. We had a long trip on Kestrel but our guests appreciated us going the extra mile.
Naturalist Rachel