Nice diversity of shots from Kurt Leipold on 7/6/24

June 30

Lucky day today! T46 Bs were spotted at Clark and Burnes, very close to home.

This group of whales is interesting because a large portion of the pod are very young. Both the matriarch and the next oldest female had calves this last year! We saw lots of little baby porpoising and great views of all 7 whales surfacing together.

T46B – Raksha, T46B2- Akela, T46B3 – Seana, T46B4 – Quiver

T47B7 – 2023, Т4628 – 2023

 

We then got reports of a humpback and calf heading up Bellingham Chanel, After an hour with the T46Bs, we met up with Phi and ner 2024 calf at Viti Rocks. The humpbacks passed between Elza and Lummi before circling back around and heading south.

We got some great paired surfaces and it was amazing to see the size difference between mom and calf.

Phi and 2024 calf

 

This day Keeps on giving! We circled north of Lummi to try to see some different areas today before making it back to dock. As we topped Lummi Island we found a T-Party of 11 whales!

T36s T99s T65B’s

 

We saw some great socialization behaviors. Several spyhops, tail lobs, belly rolls and some swimming upside down. There may have also been some mating attempts today.

Very active group of 8-10 animals for this last portion of our trip.

 

July 1

This morning an eagle was busy harassing the nesting birds on vit rocks. We watched it circle a few times, pretty much clearing all the nests.

We had an early report of Biggs orcas over by Friday Harbor. The reports were for milling and a lot of socialization between T65Bs and T75Bs. When we arrived on scene, the whales stalled out in the current at Turn Island.

There was a lot of social behavior; tall slaps, lobs and headstands as well as some belly rolls and pectoral slapping. When the current died down, they moved over to the nearby reef and Kelp beds.They picked up their splashing and lunging over the low lying rocks.

 

July 3

We made our first stop at Viti Rocks and saw some harbor seals, as well as a mature bald eagle and two immature eagles being harassed by some gulls.

We then headed straight down south toward whale reports near Smith Island. We found the T65Bs and stayed with them for an hour, showing us pretty typical behavior, with 2-3 minute dives and surfacing for a few breaths.

We left the T65Bs around Bird Rocks, where we made a stop to see a sea otter. We also made stops at Pea Pod Rocks to see more seals and eagles, and finally a buoy with some giant sea lions on them.

 

July 4

Our first stop was at a navigation marker to look at three stellers. They started vocalizing and grunting at each other. We then made our way to Pea Pod Rocks where we saw a mature and a juvenile bald eagle. We also saw a lot of harbor seals, and some pups banana posing.

We got to hangout with the T65Bs today, there are 4 in this family group with a calf born in 2023. The water was super calm so we were seeing a lot of saddle patches and eye patches. It seemed almost like they were sleeping really close together.

On our way back we made our way up north in search of a humpback, but no such luck. We did get amazing views of the Patos lighthouse in lIne with Mt Baker.

We also caught a glimpse of a harbor seal pup catching a ride on its moms back.

 

July 5

We went way west today! It is the farthest west I have been, by Discovery Island near Victoria BC. We went this far for a chance at seeing the T36s + T99s. And we ended up seeing about 10 whales! It was absolutely glassy out in the Strait. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

We caught a couple of tail slaps and a roll!. It was an amazing day. Lots of good looks at saddle patches and eye patches as well.

 

July 6

Today the only report of whales was by a private boat but they only saw them once, so we had to go find them ourselves 40 minutes later. The report was made between Burrows lighthouse and Bird Rocks. We were scanning the area for a long time, and then we saw fins way over by Bird Rocks! We were the first whale watch boat to spot them today. Later another boat identified them as the T65B’s. There was 4 of them, and one of them gave us a tail slap and wave! It was a really fun sighting, and we got to see them directly under Mt Baker twice! Always a welcome view. We also saw porpoise, harbor seals, and some sea lions + a bald eagle.