[M/V Sea Lion Noon Thursday 10/4/18]
Since it is October there are less trips, crisp breezes, and great fall weather. Captain Mike, Alexandria, and I took a great, full boat out with us on M/V Sea Lion. Today was bright and crisp. We headed south against the tide and went through Cattle Pass. We passed Cattle Point Lighthouse and headed southwest past Salmon Bank and pointed towards Hein Bank down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As we approached the bank we started to see blows off in the distance as we slowly approached.
We soon could see the dark dorsal fins popping up above the water’s surface. These were orcas (aka Killer Whales) and part of the marine mammal eating community that we see off the Washington and British Columbia coasts. This ecotype of orcas are called Transients or Bigg’s Orcas. There are a bunch of Transient Orca families that we often see in the inland sea every year. This population is also growing around 3% annually which is pretty amazing! This family is called the T123’s and they have a new baby! Besides the the new baby there is the mom, T123, her older son, T123A, and the 6-year-old T123C! This family was zig-zagging through the Strait. It was so cool to see them traveling through the Salish Sea. T123A the male who is almost fully grown zig-zagged closer we could see his huge dorsal fin rise above the water. Male orcas are a little bit bigger than females and grow larger fins too. It is an example of sexual dimorphism that is rare in cetaceans.
We watched these orcas for awhile until we had to head back up north towards Friday Harbor. On the way there, we passed by lots of Pacific Loons and White-winged Scoters. We made another stop at Whale Rocks where we watched a bunch of Steller Sea Lions roar at each other and sun themselves on the rocks. They are super huge animals and one of my favorite animals to watch! What another great fall day on the Salish Sea!
Until next time,
Naturalist Erick
San Juan Safaris