Ahh yess…September. The coolest month on the island, besides October. So really, I guess you could say, fall is the best season on the island. It’s surprising how quickly things “slow down” on San Juan Island. There is really only about eight staff members left, which is down significantly from the 22 we had during the summer. The eight of us are really keeping busy though J. The wildlife is still here and amazing as always.
In the past week, we had a lot of really interesting marine mammal reports. In the San Juan Island area, we had reports of 10 Minkes, Dahl’s & Harbor porpoise, Humpbacks, Pacific White Sided Dolphins (so cool!), and both Resident & Transient Killer Whales. This group of transients was very interesting though. CA20, an orca that is a California Transient, was among them! And those are just the whales and dolphins…don’t get me started on the pinnepeds.
Kayak guide Britt had two very lovely half-day trips today. She’s said it was “lovely” because there was absolutely no wind on the water and practically zero boat traffic. It was flat as glass! The water was so clear and calm that her guests could see the bottom in places where it was 30 feet deep! They saw crabs (both Red Rock & Dungeness), fish, and bright purple ochre starfish. The most interesting wildlife encounter occurred on the Westside of Henry Island. A lone harbor seal was porpoising out of the water. His whole body was completely out of the water like he was flying! Britt said that the seal was about 10 feet from their kayaks and that this was a first experience for her. So cool!
Naturalist Kevin and Captain Brian met up with the Southern Resident orcas off of False Bay, near the southern end of San Juan Island. Kevin positively identified L84 & J30, but there were many other whales as well. The true stars of this whale watch weren’t the killer whales though. As the Sea Hawk was motoring back to Roche Harbor, a dozen Dahl’s porpoise started to bow-ride on the surf our boat was creating! Every guest ran towards the bow and looked down to the water. The porpoise were crisscrossing below them and when they surfaced to breath, sprayed guests with water from their blowholes. Two guests were so excited and moved, that they actually started tearing up! Kevin said that it was an incredible and astonishing experience.