It was the warmest evening we had so far this season and the sunset tour was just about to kick off with some reports of killer whales East of Orcas Island. We didn’t yet know what group of whales were over there, but we decided to head that way and find out! The wind was amazingly warm and most of the guests were gladly sitting at the vow. We had some excited guests and even a birthday on board! We decided to head towards Rosario Strait going up Upright Channel and then through Obstruction pass. The ride was smooth and we were covering ground fast! Another boat on scene told us the whales were moving North East, so we quickly had to cross Rosario Strait and go East of Anacortes headed towards Bellingham Channel. As we approached the scene, the water was calm and there were no spouts or dorsal to be seen. We waited and drifted a couple of minutes, when we finally saw a huge dorsal come up in the distance! Blinded by the strong sun starting to set, the guests and I were still all surprised at how big the dorsal we had seen was! As we waited and reposition ourselves out of the sun to get a good look at them, it turns out there was not one, but two big males in this group. Through the radio, Captain Mike got a message from another boat clarifying that this was a group of transient orcas not common to the islands. I was super excited to hear this and get to watch these two individuals I had never laid eyes on before (T128 & T125A). When I went to look them up to know a little more about them, they weren’t even listed on my Transient ID guide. Apparently, last time they were seen was in March off the Olympic Peninsula and a week and a half before that, they were down in the California coast! No doubt these guys were tough, traveling by themselves and both having very distinct nicks on their dorsal fin. We stayed with them for a while as they surfaced for air quite often and reminded us of how big their dorsal was. At one point, while getting a last look at them, they surfaced right next to us and we heard their loud exhalations. It was hard to leave these guys, but we had to peel off and head back home, still seeing their spouts in the distance as they kept moving North. I sure do hope they stick around!
Mariana, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris