(7/27/17- M/V Seahawk- 2PM)
Today we left Roche Harbor with reports right inside our viewing area. At times like these it is really up to the orcas as to whether or not we will see them, if they travel away from us then we are out of their range but if they travel towards us then we get the opportunity to see them. Thankfully, the coin flipped in our favor today and we got the chance the hang out with a family of transient orcas.
This specific family of orcas was the T37A’s, which includes four individual whales, a female and her three youngest offspring. The whales were hanging out at Sucia Island, on the North side of Orcas Island. We were extra lucky today because the whales continued to head in the direction of our dock, allowing us to spend a significant amount of time with them. We watched as the whales hugged the shoreline and even made a kill of what was most likely a harbor seal. The whales continued in a forward motion while still sticking close to the shoreline.
We left the whales at Presidents Channel and then headed back towards our dock. As we traveled we saw some harbor seals as well as some harbor porpoise. We had a few large families on board and everyone seemed thrilled to share some time with these magnificent creatures.
Naturalist, Rachel