[Sarah M. – 07/31/2017 – M/V Kittiwake – 01:00pm Private Charter]
I’ve said once and I’ll say it another billion times, I love private charters on the M/V Kittiwake! I really enjoy getting to know an intimate group of guests and I love being able to design a trip based on their priorities. Sometimes we have guests who want to see the lighthouses of the San Juans or guests who really want to go find seabirds. With a private charter we have the flexibility to go out and look for whatever our guests what to look for! Yesterday, this meant orcas!
We left Friday Harbor and headed east through Upright Channel between Lopez and Shaw Islands. The sun was shining, the water was smooth, and we had a positive report of whales close-by! Making our way through the inter-island we got spectacular views of some bald eagles that were perched close to the water. These massive birds are about three feet tall with a six-foot wingspan. As big as they look, did you know that bald eagles only weigh about seven pounds?! We also had some very nice looks at some hauled-out harbor seals.
Captain Mike steered the M/V Kittiwake out across Rosario Strait, one of the two main straits in the San Juans… the other, western, strait being Haro. We ended up finding the killer whales in the Cypress Island Aquatic Reserve around the Cone Islands. We found a number of different families of orca traveling together, all led and identified by their matriarchs. The first whale I identified (by looking at the dorsal fin and saddlepatch marking) was the female T037! This strong 38 year-old matriarch often travels with her daughters T037A and T037B with their offspring, but has been known to travel with the T036 family group. Yesterday, her daughters and grandchildren surrounded her. We also caught glimpses of the T034 family as well as the T046 family group. Perhaps the highlight of the day were two exuberant spyhops from T034 as her kiddos milled nearby.
See all 9 photos
