Whale & Wildlife Report: Double Header

A bright sunny Saturday morning meant the start of a bright beautiful cruise on board the Victoria Star 2. We set out on a trek through the middle of the islands and got a great start with a look at a bald eagle, and a harbor seal eating a fishy morning snack.

The rest of the cruise was fairly quiet as we made our way to Lime Kiln state park on the west side of San Juan Island. We finally caught up to a resting J-pod and we were able to watch around 12 orcas all surface together many times.

We left J-pod with the goal of heading in to Friday Harbor, but a surprise pod of transient orcas gave us a reason to be late. The T 124A group were immediately more active than the J-pod group. We came on scene and saw a breach followed by many tail slaps on the surface. We still did have to leave eventually and make our way toward Friday Harbor though it was hard to peel away from the show.

The weather stayed undeniably beautiful throughout the rest of the trip. And our afternoon trip back to Bellingham was one of the nicest summer days I’ve seen this season.

~Captain Jeff

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