Whale Watching Report

In the Stillness (T19B subpod)

Learning (tagging T19B)
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"Exiting the marina this afternoon we found a lounging Harbor Seal teetering just barely out of the water on a small boulder! Rounding Cap Sante Point the beautiful Mount Baker came into view surrounded by a sea of blue sky!! It wasn't long before we saw exhalations of 4 Orcas making their way through our very own backyard moving northward up Rosario Strait! As we approached the Transient Orcas a small research vessel was seen nearby. Researchers from N.O.A.A. were partnering with Cascadia Research out of Olympia, WA working towards putting satellite transmitters the dorsal fins of Transient Orcas in order to better understand their movements throughout their 900 mile home range! We watched as the boat allowed the whales to feel comfortable with its presence! Just off the shores of Blakely Island after close to 30 minutes of us watching their "dance" play out it finally happened! As T19B surfaced just off their bow a very small transmitter went flying through the air and safely found its new home on his dorsal fin! The foursome ventured away from Blakely's shoreline before heading back towards Peavine Pass! After some great close encounters with the Transients we peeled away heading through Obstruction Pass! Along Orcas Islands shoreline we found Harbor Seals smartly hauled out on the rocks and a Great Blue Heron perched on some Bull Kelp! After a tour around Obstruction Island we met back up with the Orcas for one last goodbye before heading back out into Rosario Strait through Peavine Pass! One of our last stops on our journey was Peapod Rocks where we found over 50 Harbor Seals avoiding the Transient Orcas by sitting atop the rocks! Working the shoreline looking for a meal was a Black Oystercatcher looking for of course Oysters!! It was amazing not only having the beautiful day, Orcas in our backyard and the icing on the cake was watching only the second satellite transmitter for this study to be placed on a Transient Orca in this region!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes