Alright folks, today was the trip of all trips! I absolutely love the southern resident community whales, but I must say that watching the Transients has to be my favorite. You just never know what you will get when you are watching the transient foraging for marine mammals.
The M/V Sea Lion and passengers first encountered T-35 A's and T-75 B's, along the Eastside of San Juan Island and quickly followed them up towards Canadian waters. For most of the trip they seemed to be moving together and possibly have prey underneath the surface. There seemed to be lots of circling and close movements that could be beneficial is trying to keep their prey from reaching the surface for a quick breath. After about 20 to 3o minutes of this type of activity, we were surprised by two harbor porpoises rocketing themselves out of the water for a fast breath, some 400 yds away from the transient orcas. After that we didn't see the porpoise again, but we did see a quick change in direction for our orcas. They seemed to have headed in the same direction as where the porpoises fled the scene. Within two minutes from this happening, gulls started to flock towards the surface of the water in the same spot as the whales had been surfacing. It is likely what we witnessed on board was the last ditch effort for the porpoises, but with 6 adult transients hot on their tail it is unlikely that they made an escape.
Definitely an interesting and amazing day spent on the water. It is always incredible to see the orcas work together to take down prey. Definitely never a dull moment with Transient orcas! Hopefully tomorrow holds just as much excitement!
Caitlin, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris, M/V Sea Lion