Our 2pm trip today aboard M/V Kestrel was truly one for the books! From the beginning I suspected that this was going to be a great day! We had beautiful weather and a fantastic group- everyone was smiling, excited to get going, and of course even participated in the obligatory laughing at my jokes- like I said it was the Dream Team and Dream Trip from the get go….
But no one have fully prepared for what a fantastic trip it would prove to be! As we headed out we knew that we were in search of some Transient Orcas we knew of from earlier in the day. We had left them up in Canadian waters near Tumbo Island. Lucky for us they were headed south, and were within our reach- after all we were aboard the incredible M/V Kestrel- the fastest boat known to man, or at least the fastest boat in the Salish Sea! Either way, an absolutely fantastic vessel, my favorite of our fleet for sure!
We made our way up north and once we got near English Bluff we spotted those Transient Orcas! They were amazing! We were treated to some spy hops, cartwheels, and tail lobs! We even had baby breaches! It was incredible seeing these whales swim so close to us! One male had a dorsal fin that was easily more than 6 feet off the surface of the water! Massive male that was probably still growing! Such a humbling experience having this dorsal fin swim by us on the boat, taller than we were!
After spending a good 30 minutes with these Transients, we caught word that there were Resident Orcas just south of us! How could we not at least attempt to find them?! So we jumped in our seats and headed back down south to see if we could locate those Resident Orcas!
Much to our excitement we had members of J Pod swimming around us every which way! It was one of those amazing times were we literally didn’t know which way to work- there were whales all around us! We had a breaking male off the port side, a small group off the starboard, and a spy hopping individual off the bow! It was incredible! Each time we thought we should head out, more appeared!
It truly was the perfect day! I couldn’t have asked for a better group, better sightings, and more enthusiasm! Those whales were exceptional, any trip where we see either Resident’s or Transient Orcas is an amazing trip- but this trip were we got to see BOTH was incredible!
Until Next Time,
Naturalist Alexandria