Olivia | September 1st, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00pm
It is always wonderful leaving the dock with reports of whales in the area. We had potential Minke, Humpback, Gray, and Killer Whales today, but with their far distance apart from one another, Captain Sarah decided to go see something black and white swimming around. That being said, we left Roche Harbor, took a turn around Henry Island, and headed southwest across Haro Strait towards D’Arcy Island.
The Haro Strait was incredibly calm and beautiful with the sun reflecting off the water. During this aesthetically pleasing boat ride, we saw many Harbor Porpoises showing off their chocolate chip dorsal fins. Upon arriving at D’Arcy, we immediately saw heaps of black dorsal fins! In fact, we saw about 12 between three different family groups of the Bigg’s (transient) Killer Whales- the T18/19’s, T46B1’s, and T100’s. We had about three large male dorsal fins towering over the rest, including a T19 favorite where it leans a bit to the left. Since they had just gotten done feeding, we saw lots of birds in the area and watched as they socialized, rubbed together, and happily milled around. I guess that “don’t swim for 20 minutes after eating” rule doesn’t apply to them.
Out of the respect for the whales, we decided to peel away and go explore what else there was in the water. After making our way back up the Haro Strait, we stopped at Spieden Island where we talked about the exotic animals from Europe and Asia, including Mouflon Sheep and Fallow Deer. We also spotted Bald Eagles perched up in the trees and Harbor Seals snoozing and basking in their famous banana pose. It was such a gorgeous day on the water for our full boat of holiday passengers, and always a fun time taking our old, retired wooden fishing boat out for a cruise.