Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | August 27th, 2024 | 12:30pm
Today’s afternoon trip was certainly one to remember! We left Friday Harbor with an excited group of passengers and started our search for whales to the east. As we followed along the ferry route between the islands of Shaw, Lopez, and Blakely, we got some looks at a bald eagle and adorable harbor seals swimming through the channel. We maintained our course to the north east following up on some reports of whale activity, and as we rounded the corner of Orcas Island we were in for a big surprise. Ahead of us were over 4 different matrilines of Bigg’s/Transient Killer Whales, traveling and hanging out in what we call a T-Party!
As we made our way onto the scene, we could see the multiple groups spread around the area, and very quickly we had whales all around us. There were approximately 14 total individuals, made up of members of the T18s, T49As, T36s, T137s, and T65As. This group had a large range in age and size, including multiple large males and a calf that was born this year. We had so many whales in the area it was hard to watch all of them at the same time, especially when they started becoming very surface active. We began to see breaching, lob tailing, pectoral and chin slapping, spyhopping, and more! The whales stayed close to shore off the east side of Orcas Island for a long time, allowing us to spend well over an hour watching them – it was easy to lose track of time as we sat in awe of all the different behaviors in front of us. Eventually it was time to begin our ride back to Friday Harbor, and we enjoyed the rest of the beautiful scenery to end the amazing trip.
Check out our SmugMug to see photos of the many whales from today’s trip at https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/.