[Sunday, May 28, 2017 -- M/V Sea Lion -- 12:00pm and 5:30pm tours]
On Sunday we had an incredible demonstration of the strength and power of killer whales. We often throw out the stat that killer whales can travel over 100 miles a day, and we saw that fist hand from one of my very favorite families of whales.
On our afternoon trip we went headed south out of Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass. Under blue skies we had wonderful wildlife sightings of Steller’s sea lions, harbor seals and bald eagles. We marveled at the power of the currents pushing their way through the islands, creating significant upwelling. Upwelling is important as it stirs nutrients to the surface from the bottom layers of water which creates phytoplankton blooms creating the base for the rest of the ecosystem.
We crossed Haro Strait towards the Saanich Peninsula where we found the T0101s, a female transient killer whale, her two sons, and an associated male. The whales had been reported earlier in the afternoon just west of Victoria in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and continued following the shoreline as they came together, made a kill, and then spread out. We had an amazing and respectful encounter with this family. We then continued around the north side of San Juan Island, completing a circumnavigation of San Juan.
On our evening trip we were lucky enough to catch up with T101, T101A, T101B and T102 again up in the Canadian Gulf Islands near Active Pass. We caught up with the whales as they started shooting east through the Pass... Over the course of an afternoon these whales had traveled over 50 miles! The light was amazing and the water was smooth as we marveled at the shear power of the animals in front of us! As we headed home for home we had an amazing sunset that cast an orange glow over the water and islands.