[Thursday, 8/16/18, M/V Sea Lion Noon & 5:30PM]
On Thursday, the M/V Sea Lion had two wonderful trips out on the Salish Sea. Naturalists Sarah and I on both trips took great groups of people out. On our first trip we saw a bunches of Harbor Seals swimming around and resting on rocks on Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. Then we went to Lawson Reef in Rosario Strait and saw a group of Transient (Bigg’s) Orcas. These orcas are the ecotype that live on the west coast of North America that prey on marine mammals. This group was hunting around this shallow reef which is a good spot to find unsuspecting Harbor Seals to eat. Harbor Seals are their main food source in the Salish Sea (Where the San Juan Islands are located). We watched this family group of orcas travel and hunt for awhile around this reef before we headed back. On our sunset trip we headed north instead. We still got to see Harbor Seals and a few Bald Eagles on the way there. We were headed to Skipjack Island where there was another group of Transient (Bigg’s) Orcas here! This is another great spot to find Harbor Seals for these killer whales. They spent their time here also hunting for Harbor Seals. Here the Harbor Seals make up about 70% of the BIgg’s Orcas diet! We watched them coordinate a few successful hunts. It’s amazing to watch them plan and execute an attack. These hunting tactics are passed down through generations so as we watch different families of Bigg’s Orcas we can see them using slightly different tactics which are unique to their families. So interesting. It was just another lovely day out here in the San Juans.
Whales Folks, until next time.
Naturalist Erick
San Juan Safaris