Today is J pod's third day back in the Salish Sea after about a month of absence. We were thrilled the hear that they were making their way to the west side of San Juan Island this morning, just in time for the Seahawk's first trip of the day! We headed out of Roche Harbor through Mosquito Pass and rounded the corner to the west side. Pretty soon we got into view of Lim Kiln Lighthouse, and were greeted by the members of the J16 family group!
We watched Mike as he surfaced repeatedly a little farther from shore with the rest of his family (including two itty bitty calves) hug the shoreline heading south. They were making good time, and were most likely trying to keep up with the rest of J pod as they traveled in the same direction but already farther down the west side. We had some beautiful looks at Mike and even caught a few breaches from the younger members of his family!
By the time we left them, they had made it all the way to the south side of the island, and were continuing to swim southwest at a pretty good speed. The rest of J pod were resting along the water off of South Beach and we could see a few of them surfacing as we turned around to begin our journey back up the entirety of San Juan Island up to Roche Harbor.
With any luck, J pod will stay in the Salish Sea and grace our waters for the remainder of the summer!
Naturalist Sarah C.
M/V Seahawk