Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 07/20/19 | 2:00pm
What a beautiful day out on the water!
Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor and boated towards Speiden Island to start our journey.
This very special island has herds of exotic sheep and deer still roaming the island! They were imported here in the 70’s and still meander throughout the forests and grassy hills. It’s always very cool when we pass by and see foreign animals in Washington!
We continued up across the San Juan Channel and towards Waldron Island! Here we found two whales! One was huge as his 6-foot-dorsal fin towered above the water with every surfacing. This is nothing compared to his 30 foot body size! The big male was accompanied by his little brother who travelled with him as they swam through the water.
Suddenly, the smaller whale leapt out of the water! We were able to see his whole body! So fantastic.
Upon closer analyzation, we were able to identify the two whales as T77B and T77D! Then, we realized that their family was really close by! We boated with the whales as they meandered towards their family.
Eventually, the two groups merged, and we saw 9 whales all swimming together! The T77s and the T65As! Sometimes we’re lucky to see two pods socializing and travelling together. They are incredibly social animals. It was really fun to see in action.
Finally, we boated back home to Roche Harbor. But along the way we spotted some harbor seals! It’s nice to see what prey looks like that the orcas are searching for. So cute!
What a lovely day!