Despite some unusual July rainfall, we had a wonderful wildlife trip! On our way south toward Cattle Pass and on to Eagle Point we sighted a handful of Minke whales near Salmon Bank. As we reached the orcas, members of J and K pods were exceptionally social and playful, making for some excellent memories and photos. We dropped the hydrophone and listened to the vocalizations, a real highlight of the trip, and a reminder of how amazing these creatures are. After spending a great afternoon with the orcas we headed back towards Friday Harbor and spotted a steller sea lion on Whale Rocks, along with a great bald eagle and lots of those spotted harbor seals!

We had an amazing month of sightings in June, and July is off to a great start! Despite some grey skies and light rain, we left port at 1:30pm heading south around Cattle Point. We spent the afternoon with the only members of Lpod that have been in the area recently, L-53, L-72, L-95 and L-105. The largest of the three resident pods, it was wonderful to see some of the L members back in the area. On our way back in to the harbor a bald eagle flew directly over the boat, an amazing sight!

Finally some summer weather! The first day of July and the Odyssey left port underneath beautiful blue sunny skies. The day’s highlights included a cartwheel by J-8 (Spieden) while we traveled north along South Pender Island, and several harbor porpoise sightings throughout the trip. We cannot wait to see what this month brings!