Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | Friday, June 28, 2019 | 2:00 PM
Today's trip was absolutely amazing. We left Roche Harbor and the sun was shining brightly. There were some orca reports pretty far north, and we decided to go towards the reports to try to get some looks at them. We went around the east side of Spieden Island and headed towards Flattop Island. At Flattop Island, we got some great looks at harbor seals that were hauled out on the rocks. We also saw three bald eagles that were hanging out in the trees above the beach. They were all adult bald eagles, with white head and white tail feathers.
We then continued travelling toward Lummi Island. The weather out on the water was just stunning, and it was a lovely boat ride. When we arrived to the area that the orcas were in, we caught sight of a large group at the surface. There were two family pods in the area. They were identified as the T99's and the T36A's. There were a couple of young juveniles in the group, and there was at least one obvious calf. We got to watch them for about 20 minutes, and as we started to leave to head back toward the harbor, the whales began porpoising away, travelling very quickly. One of the family pods took the lead, and the other one stayed behind for a few minutes. We went over to where the lead group was, and they began tailslapping and breaching! It was incredible. The other family pod soon joined, and they were also joined by a bunch of gulls. We didn't see any evidence of prey, but their behavior suggested that they possibly captured something. We headed back toward the harbor with yet another beautiful boat ride. What a fun-filled day aboard the M/V Sea Hawk!
Naturalist Erin