Transiet Orca in San Juan Channel
Today we experienced Transient Killer Whales (Orca) in San Juan Channel just inside of Cattle Pass! Wow, just 35 minutes on the boat, we had whales! T40 (the large adult male thought to have been born about 1962) has a unique dorsal fin, the tip has a bend in it. He traveled with 2 other family members. The whales came close to the Odyssey, you could really hear the power in their exhalation. We stayed with them for about an hour! They were slowly making their way north in the channel. We continued on to find a Stellar Sea Lion foraging near Whale Rocks and 30+ Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks there. We slipped over to Long Island, south of Lopez Island, and found 2 bald eagles near the nest there. You could really see how much larger the female eagle was compared to the male sitting on the tree limb across from her. We had a fabulous wildlife day and the weather cooperated, too!
Naturalist Debbi Fincher