It’s not everyday that our boat gets to be the one that finds the orca whales but very occasionally we get the honor. From the bottom of Lummi island we hit a wall of fog with only about 100 yards of visibility. The fog was everywhere in the islands so looking was going to be difficult. A few of the boats were all searching the same area after a vague report of orcas on a USCG radio station. But no orcas had been found yet, we ended up at a reef just north of Sucia island watching some Stellar sea lions when our of the fog came a group of Transients.

I was in shock at first as they swam right next to the boat and playfully knocked around a pigeon guillemot. We managed to stay with the transients for about 40 minutes before turning toward Friday Harbor where the fog was beginning to clear. It was a good day…