Days like today are basically a dream come true - residents and transients were spotted on our whale watch. Our adventures always keep us guessing, but each and every day is magical out here. We're in the San Juan Islands, after all! M/V Kestrel was all shined up and ready for a trip out to the Salish Sea, waiting patiently at the dock before all of the passengers were boarded and off she zipped! Gracefully flying over the surface of the water at about 30 knots, we headed north out of charming Friday Harbor, passed through Spieden Channel, and slowed down to view some plump little harbor seals and eagles off of Battleship Rock before continuing down the west side of the island. We'd heard some reports of orcas in the area...
But not only were there reports of orcas on this side - we also encountered some incredibly fun water conditions! The Haro Straight can sometimes be a bit rough, that's not atypical, but it makes for exciting whale watching because some folks agree that orcas are actually more surface active on rough, windy days. It hasn't exactly been scientifically proven, but once we got to the south end of Henry Island and met up with L87, Onyx, and the J-Pod family he's been seen traveling with, I would agree that whoever said their activity increases on rough days was spot on! We saw spy-hops, tail lobs, baby breaches, and more from the J16 family, with matriarch Slick somewhere nearby. We watched some of her offspring frolick in the water, including Mike, Alki, and Echo, while they continued to head south along the shoreline. WHAT A TREAT. Onyx, a bit cheeky today, surfaced near our boat, allowing us to get a great view of his beautiful black and white coloration and a good listen to his powerful blow.
Sadly, we couldn't spend the entire day with these orcas and had to make it back to the harbor, so we turned around eventually, enjoyed the fun ride back up the Haro, hugged the north shoreline of San Juan Island, and headed back down to Friday Harbor. But what? The adventure isn't over? Nope! There were transient killer whales in the San Juan Channel, right on our way home! It's wonderful to see residents and transients in the same day. Although they look very similar, these two ecotypes of whales have their own cultures, and what a treat to see them both. These were the T65A's, swimming merrily on their way south. We got a good look before Kestrel took us home.
All of us were a bit windblown and definitely stoked on the day's trip. I'm still thinking about it now! Book a whale watch on the M/V Kestrel and you'll know what I mean.