[Sarah M – 07/17/2017 – M/V Seahawk – 01:00pm Charter]
Today we had another great encounter with transient killer whales for the books on the M/V Seahawk. We had a lovely group of conservationists from all over the world on a private charter cruising through the islands. We had beautiful weather and great reports of whales in range of our boat.
Leaving Roche Harbor we headed out to the east towards the mainland, cruising past Spieden, Flattop, and Waldron Islands as went north through President’s Channel. We looked up at the cliffs on the north side of Orcas Island, and motored out towards Point Douty. There we found the T077s traveling along the Orcas shoreline, hugging the shallows. This family of whales includes a male, T077B, who was born in 2000. This boy is massive for a 17 year old. Killer whales are not physically mature until they are 24 years old! We followed the family of five whales for about 35 minutes and we got excellent looks at the beautiful animals.
As we cruised away from the whales we were able to check out some sea birds, porpoises, and harbor seals. We enjoyed beautiful views of the islands and cloudscapes as we steered the boat back towards San Juan Island.