The T123’s Bigg’s orcas hunting a seal named Betsy right at our dock at the start of our trip on 6/4/26
by Elliot Shaughnessey-Lively
June 3 – Naturalist Lauren
A gorgeous overcast day exploring the heart of the San Juan’s. We saw so many critters today from lounging harbor seals, sunbathing cormorants, sneaky sea lions and so many orca whales!! Our adventure took us way west, tracking about 75 nautical miles in total. Getting out into Haro strait is always exciting, you never quite know what kind of conditions will meet you. Today it was quite calm. Calm enough to attract many orca whales. We had a small T-party to hang out with for the afternoon. Members of the T36A’s, T49A’s, T69D’s took us north along Moresby Island. An international whale watch! These pods gave us great looks at how much larger males are than females, a characteristic called sexual dimorphism. Very cool experience to see physically mature males. An even greater comparison to the fresh 2026 new calf of T49A, Nan. T49A7 makes hearts drop with their tiny body swimming right next to mom.
Our venture home led us on the north side of Orcas Island, a full circumnavigation of the largest island in the San Juan archipelago. A lovely day to spend on the water.
June 4 – Naturalist Elliot
Plans have a way of falling apart when you lean on them. Everything went out the window first thing in the trip, when 10 minutes before boarding the T123’s showed up a weak stone’s throw off the bow of the boat, and made brunch of Betsy the harbor seal. Right in front of us and our patiently waiting passengers. They made short work of the seal that has been hanging out on our dock, and made their way south across the bay where we watched them kill two more harbor seals in the shallows. We couldn’t see the carnage as clearly but the murky red splotches in the surf spoke for themselves. We left our friends and headed south and saw harbor seals and nesting cormorants at Viti rocks, Stellars on the Sinclair cans, and then eventually met back up with the 123’s west of Samish Island. Bittersweet, but incredible day.
June 6- Naturalist Kara
Started off the morning with a bit of a sprinkle, but whales also in the forecast! Orcas, the T99’s were spotted by the ferry terminal in Anacortes, so it was quick work across the bay to be on scene with them. The T99’s were the only Bigg’s picked up in the region today, and they kept us all on our toes. Their direction was a bit zig-zaggy and they had drastically different down times throughout our watch today. Due to finding the orcas so soon in our journey, we were able to switch gears and watch a Grey whale in the area as well! We love a double header.
T99’s- Bella, Holly, Barakat, Puck, Qwiin qwiin oo qwi laa
June 7th – Naturalist Kara
Bellingham Bay was a bit spicy this morning for our morning crossing, but the ride smoothed out by Bellingham Channel. Today’s whale report has us traveling the same waters as yesterday, but new whales! We watched the T124a2s and T124A4s have a sisterly meet up, zig zagging by Burrows Island lighthouse.
The journey home took us by Peapod Rocks, with harbor seals, bald eagles and lots of bat balls throughout the strait. Just before we turned into Hale pass, we found 2 humpbacks! One gave us a cartwheel, but then lumpy water and shallow surfacing had us cut the visit a bit short to head to dock! I love a surprise double header day.
June 8 – Naturalist Lauren
What a way to start out the day with the T123’s crossing our bow while still tied up to the dock. Granted, this pod came by our dock an hour before our trip. Thankfully they were not far from the dock. They were picked up near Eliza Island and we got to spend a good chunk of time hanging out with them! Sidney, T123, was accompanied by her three offspring. They gave us great looks at dorsal fins and eye patches, hunting strategies and even one full breach! They were definitely hunting. A fellow whale watching boat got a good look at what used to be a rib cage of either a harbor seal or harbor porpoise. We were incredibly lucky to have these orcas so close to home.
We ventured onward and took a scenic cruise between Clark and Barnes seeing harbor porpoise on the north side and harbor seals on the south side! Then we headed south in Rosario where we caught up with Gretzky the humpback whale! They gave us beautiful looks at their towering spout and massive fluke. Gretzky had two very distinct white scars on either side of their fluke, making them very easy to ID. As they ventured further south we turned and headed back north. We came across a steller sea lion actively hunting in a current line as a cherry on top of a spectacular day in the Salish sea.
