[Sunday, 5/27/18 - M/V Kestrel - 6:00PM - Naturalist Erick]
On our evening trip on M/V Kestrel we got to enjoy the long, slow sunset over the Salish Sea. Captain Brian and I first headed towards the north side of Stewart Island. We soon saw blows closely following the shoreline. It was a group of Bigg’s Orcas traveling along the island. These are the orcas that prey on marine mammals and this family that we were seeing is one that we have been seeing a few times the past few days. It was the T124A’s! This family was heading south for a little bit but they did an about face and started heading northeast. We watched them for awhile as they did long dives into Boundary Pass. This family is a super cool three generational family and it was great to see them swim away and especially see the young one who was only a few years out look up out of the water every time it took a breath. Next we went around Turn Point and headed for Haro Strait. In the middle of the strait here we saw another group of blows and stopped to see another group of orcas. This was another family of Bigg’s Orcas. This was the T100’s and in this family there is an adult male orca. You can easily see the males because their dorsal fins are about 6 feet tall and the rest of their body is bigger as well. This is pretty unusual in whale species since in most species the males and the females look pretty much the same. This family was staying still mostly in the same spot and socializing a little before they moved on across Boundary Pass. After that we headed south and made one last stop at Sentinel Rocks to look at those orcas’ main food source - a bunch of Harbor Seals! After looking at those cute seals it was time to head back in with the moon rising in front of us and sun setting behind us!
Whale folks, until next time,
Naturalist Erick