First Row: T100’s spooking seals on White Rock on 6/5/26 by Lincoln Humphry
Second Row: T46B’s and their months old calf “Pi” in the Strait of Juan De Fuca by Leo Solomon
July 30 – Naturalist Lauren
How can’t you love a gray day that turns into blue skies, as you arrive on scene with orca whales! Our journey took us into the heart of the San Juan’s going through Peavine Pass. Reports up north were too good to pass by. We caught up with the T65Bs: Chunk, Birdsall, Nettle and Rook in President’s Channel. It was impressive to see how close they were hugging the shore line of Waldron Island, although it does drop off to nearly 500ft very quickly.
They definitely had their attention captured by prey as we saw many direction changes, quick bursts of speed and some excitement in the form of breaches! Rook T65B3, the youngest, was back flopping and breaching his little heart out. It always brings cheers of joy to see an orca whale leaping for the skies. This pod is mom and her three sons. The three boys range from 15 (T65B1), 7(T65B2) and 3(T65B3) years old, very different sizes of dorsal fins to compare. After the excitement of Rook’s aerial displays, the pod started zig zagging more and going on longer down times before they started heading west and we ventured back east.
We saw tons of harbor porpoise out today, a couple bald eagles and many harbor seals hauled out on the exposed rocks at low tide. It was an extremely rich wildlife day.
July 1 – Naturalist Lauren
We saw three types of whales today! Our adventure took us south into the massive Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were gunning it west because of a massive T-party of Biggs orca whales as we stumbled upon a feeding Minke whale. We didn’t stay long but we got some good looks at their crescent moon shaped dorsal fin, slender body and quick speeds.
When we got on scene with the T-party, there was a pretty big spread of whales in the area. We hung out with 10 individuals from the T46Bs, led by Raksha, and T49C Janet, a lone male. It was very fun to see T46B8 Pi, who was born this year! Their dorsal fin is so tiny and they’re still learning where the surface is so they would often time overshoot when coming up for a breath. Janet 49C, and Quiver 46B4, were hanging out together closest to the boat. A good size comparison between a fully grown male and a juvenile male.
On our way home we stopped by Castle Rock to get some beautiful views of the tall cliff sides. We saw a turkey vulture roaming the skies as we made our way east. As we headed north we spotted CRC 2702 the gray that has been hanging out on the southeast side of Lopez. They were doing some feeding as we saw the side of their fluke come out of the water a few times. It was an excellent triple whale species sighting day.
July 2 – Naturalist Lauren
We had some early reports of whales near Eliza Island this morning. We spent a good amount of time scanning the bay before heading south to check out Viti Rocks. Lots of eagles on the island and harbor seals! Three Stellers were napping lazily on the Sinclair bouy when we got the call that another whale watching company found the whales from the morning report near Vendovi Island. We caught up with the T65B pod (Chunk, Birdsall, Nettle and Rook) as they headed south in Bellingham Channel.
After spending some time with them we meandered further south in hopes of finding a baleen whale and that we did. BCX1800, Gretzky, was making some large circles and feeding just west of Deception Pass Bridge. It didn’t take long for the T65Bs to also make their way south. Pretty unique encounter seeing a mature humpback and 4 orca whales in the same area.
It was a lovely cruise home when Captain Jeff found us even more orcas! We spent some time with the T46Bs (Raksha, Akela, Takaya, Quiver, Tala, Pi [the youngster born this year]) So special to see that new calf learning the ropes of the Bigg’s orca whales. A beautiful cherry on top of an already amazing wildlife day.
Jul 4- Naturalist Kara
An old report of orcas seen from shore from Clark and Barnes Islands, had us starting our day skipping all of our standard stops to try to find these whales out in Rosario Strait. We found them! These 5 Bigg’s orca whales were porpoising through some choppy water, cruising at 9 knots through the open space between Clark and Barnes and Matia Island. This group had 2 juveniles, bringing themselves very far out of the water, so we could see their tiny little bodies.
We never had the chance to ID this group today, because they decided to leave us behind, traveling faster and further than we could go. We switched tactics and made our way south to go find the gray whale that’s been hanging around Shoal Bight off of Lopez Island. We had a great time in smoother waters down with the gray whale, to the point that we could see the silt trail it was leaving behind after scooping up food off of the muddy bottom. This gray whale, CRC2702, has been monitored by researchers pretty heavily and has been declared in good overall body condition. This gray whale is new to the area and when it was first spotted in May, it was assumed it would continue it’s journey north to the arctic waters. So far, it seems CRC2702 has found a great food source here in the Salish Sea, and we welcome them.
July 5th- Naturalist Kara
Off the dock this morning, we beelined for Flattop Island on the west side of the San Juans for early reports of the Bigg’s T100’s family. These whales were busy circling Flattop over and over at higher speeds while we approached the scene. When we arrived, they changed behavior and started on a leisurely stroll over to Waldron Island, sneaking a peak at some seals on some rocks, but no luck for a quick snack.
T100C Laurel had a really high arched dive while we were watching, and we got to see just the tips of his curled tail flukes. Overall, our time with them was peaceful, but with plenty of surface activity. We did see them hug in close to White Rock (not the town but the rock outcropping) and scare some lounging seals.
We left them behind and stopped at Skipjack Island where 6 bald eagles were working on their lunch on the shoreline. They would snatch a bit of food, fly off a bit and then make their way back. We couldn’t get a look at what they were eating, but it was fun to watch them all swooping in and taking turns on the rocks. It was a slightly bumpy at times, but beautiful weather day out toward the west side of the San Juan Islands.
