Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with the Captain Gabe, naturalist Alexandria and myself had the most rewarding encounter today! Heading out for our second trip of the day, we were so excited to have seen the Southern Resident Orcas and were hoping they were still around and within our reach. Reports we were getting were not very encouraging and we were hesitant to go their way because it seemed that they were barely in our reach and moving quite fast north (opposite way of us). Hopeful and nervous, we decided to go for it and quickly headed up the San Juan Channel towards the strait of Georgia. We had a full boat of amazingly positive and cheerful people, whom were so excited and hopeful that we would have an encounter but also grateful to be out on the water on this beautiful evening.
As we went up Boundary Pass, the reports sounded even worse and they were already almost to Vancouver. Already halfway there, we decided to just keep on going up and pray for the best. As we spit out into the strait of Georgia, we could not see any boats in the distance. We headed up the strait and could barely see point Roberts and Vancouver to the right. The water was calm and the wind was blowing a pleasant warm breeze onto our boat. The guests and I️ were having a blast and trying to see what other wildlife we could spot while underway. At one point, we thought we spotted seals and they turned out to be logs! Haha all getting a laugh out of this and anxious to see those whales!
Captain Gabe continued up the strait and out in the distance we spotted a boat he was communicating with. Apparently the whales were headed towards the Frasier River mouth now and turning right. This was a good sign, because it meant they wouldn’t keep going north out of our reach. We kept motoring on towards that little boat in the distance, which only seem to get a bit closer every time. As we approached closer but still over a mile from the boat, whoosh!! An orca came out of the water yards away from our boat! This was another group that seemed to be staying behind! We had gotten lucky and didn’t have to go any further. All the sudden another orca came up and then there were three! I️ was able to identify these as 3 orca from the J16s! One of them being a 3 year old calf Scarlet.
We were all so thankful and glad to have finally found them that we would have been content with anything. But these orcas had a really treat saved up for us. They came in even closer to us, going under our boat and surfacing not too far away. We were able to hear their loud exhalations and out of nowhere also see Scarlet breach for us 5 times!! This was so magical, she did it right in front of us and only feet away! It was almost like she wanted our attention, which she already absolutely had. After this sighting, we were all smiling from ear to ear and could not believe what had just happened. We went from almost not having a sighting to having the most memorable one!
As we headed back home, we took the inland route through the Canadian Gulf Islands where we could see some amazing sand stone formation. The sun was setting behind us giving the water and the mountains vibrant and unique colors. The captain and I️ could barely take our eyes off Mt. Baker shining off in the distance. What a magical trip, one of my best. Thanks to all my amazing guests for sharing this long trip with me and huge shout out to the J16s for being who they are!
Mariana, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris