Absolutely beautiful today in both weather and wildlife. It was bright, sunny and warm; probably the hottest day we've had all season. We left Friday Harbor heading north, and had to make a long trip to get to see some killer whales. But, even though we didn't have time to meander around the islands looking for other wildlife, we saw harbor seals and a large group of harbor porpoises on either side of our boat along the way.
It wasn't too much longer until we saw dorsal fins in the distance. We first caught up with "Granny" (J2) and one other female and watched as they surfaced and dove under. We then caught up with a male killer whale at 48º 53.31' N, 123º 02.87' W who lob-tailed, exposing the bottom half of his large, fusiform body. Once he surfaced to breath I was able to identify him as "Blackberry" (J27) who is 21 this year. He surfaced a few more times before rolling over, giving us an amazing view of his giant, paddle like pectoral fins. We then started to head back, enjoying the sunshine, flat water, and company all the way to San Juan Island.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris