A pair of humpbacks on 5/8/26 near Sinclair Island by Lincoln Humphry
Epic T-Party action from T90s, T86A1’s and T86A3’s on 5/11/26 by Tami Jean W
May 8th
Today’s schedule was a little thrown off because we got reports of two humpback whales on the east side of Sinclair Island, not very far off for us. So our day started off with a great encounter with two fouling humpbacks. Whales early in the day is always welcome. They were being a little unpredictable in their movements, but their deep dives were short so there was a ton of surface time! Humpbacks are usually solo travelers, so it isn’t too often that we see more than one traveling together. Pea Pod Rocks had a little harbor seal party happening, and we saw some black oyster catchers and a mature bald eagle hanging around. On our way back into the bay, we found a young gray whale feeding! It was fluking on every single deep dive, which is rare for grays. A decent day and we didn’t have to go far!
May 9th
Viti Rocks had lots of harbor seals hauled out and we got to see some little itty bitty pups! The pups only stay with mom for about a month, so it’s fun to see them together hauled out sleeping. Of course we saw lots of bird activity as always, with some mature and juvenile bald eagles, cormorants, gulls, and pigeon guillemots. On one of the markers close to Viti Rocks we saw some awesome Steller sea lions competing for space. They were a little restless on this encounter with them jumping onto the marker and some falling off into the water.
After that Casey spotted a tall spout off in the distance near point Lawrence. The spout turned out to be a large humpback whale that was fluking with every dive. We got some good pictures of the tail, and through photo ID we had a pretty good idea that this whale was the legendary Big Mama. Later another boat came along and confirmed our suspicions. My first time seeing the humpback icon this season, and it made my day, I love her! After spending time with her, we went north to try and find some killer whales from an old report but turned out to be a cold trail. We got to see the beautiful Patos lighthouse though. Heading home through Hale Pass we got a call from some old crew that they saw a whale tale from their kayaks and decided to go check it out. It was our same Gray whale from yesterday, which was nice to add on our way home.
May 10th
Happy Mother’s Day!! How fitting is it that we saw orcas today? Orcas live in a matriarchal society where the eldest female is in charge. We were lucky enough to see two family groups and one lone traveler on our cruise today. It was the T123s, T46B1s, and T46C2. It was a great day and we got to see lots of eye patches and saddle patches. They were at the surface a lot, but a little unpredictable in their movements. They decided to come up to us and we powered off to let them swim by. It was an amazing experience! We also saw sea lions and harbor seals on our way to and from the orca pods.
May 11th
Could not have asked for a more perfect day on the water! Left Bellingham Bay with blue skies and calm seas. Favorable morning reports took us north in Rosario, cruising along the east side of Orcas Island getting beautiful looks at the outer islands. We took a turn to head southwest in President’s channel and we were not disappointed. Coming on scene, the pod of Bigg’s orca were lively! First reports mentioned 8 whales; T90s, T86A1’s and T86A3’s. A whole range of ages from juveniles to mature bulls in on the action. We saw tail slapping, chin slaps, dorsal lobs, backflops, cartwheels, and breach after breach after breach. They did not stop! We cruised along with this pod along the entire north side of Orcas, cheering them along as they continued their aerial acrobatic show.
The highlight of this encounter was the audible vocalizations at the surface. We could actually loudly hear them chatting as they were hunting. An incredibly unique experience Captain Cassidy and Naturalist Lauren have only heard via hydrophone. As it came close to our departure time this pod was still putting on a show, I am sure they were feeding their bellies and celebrating accordingly the entire time. Absolutely astonishing to witness their endurance, speed, strength and teamwork first hand.
We circumnavigated Orcas, going back home through the heart of the San Juan’s, checking out three sleepy steller sea lions on the Sinclair Island navigational channel marker. What an epic day.
