Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 06/14/19 | 12:00
Today was wonderfully beautiful before we even started our trip! The sun was nice and warm and filled everyone with excitement right away. Starting out of Roche Harbor, Captain Sarah and I took our lovely group of people with us on our vessel, the Sea Hawk, and headed out to open waters.
Determined to find some wildlife, we headed deep into northern waters! We headed up past Spieden Island, past Stuart Island, and crossing into Canadian waters. Boating around Moresby Island and even past Salt Spring Island, we found our whale up near Prevost Island! What an adventure!
We spotted this giant male killer whale deemed a “lone male” with his towering 6 foot tall dorsal fin wobbling in the wind with every breath out of the water. You could see his exhalations exploding out into the open air and even hear him if you listened closely! Looking through binoculars, you could see the details on his dorsal fin that make him very unique and identifiable! Each orca dorsal is as unique as a human thumbprint which allows us to find his picture in a photo identification catalogue and figure out what his name is.
He was identified as T77A. T means transient aka a Bigg’s killer whale who only eats marine mammals. So, he was probably on a mission to find harbor seals and porpoises all throughout these islands.
Eventually, we needed to head home, so we turned back and adventured around the beautiful islands towards Roche Harbor.
Finally, we headed back, really excited to see such an amazing animal in his natural habitat.