Whale Watching Report

We spotted many of the exotic animals on Speiden Island including this fallow deer.

We cruised through the inner San Juan Islands today with word that our resident pods were heading north. The majority of the orcas continued north through Active Pass, but a small group of L-pod orcas turned around and headed southward again. It was the L12 subpod and other L-pod members. We found them in between South Pender Island and Turn Point. One of the first orcas that gave us a great look was L41, Mega. Soon after that another orca breached. These orcas were spread out pretty well, but shortly after we arrived many of hem grouped up close. Mega eventually swam over and grouped up with his two sisters Matia, L77, and Calypso, L94. The three of them swam together until they neared Henry Island. One of the females did several tail slaps and tail lobs as they swam. We also spotted other L-pod males such as L79, Skana, and L89, Solstice among other whales. Toward the end Mega came over for a long spell of parallel viewing, and he spent lots of time at the surface. After leaving the orcas at Henry Island we cruised up to the shoreline of Speiden Island where the exotic animals were all out feeding in the fields. We saw lots of fallow deer, sika deer, and muflon sheep. One sheep was hanging off a cliff with her front feet on a tree limb while she grazed on some leaves. We also spotted two adult bald eagles perched in a tree on the hillside right above some fallow deer. The sunset was beautiful adding the perfect ending to a beautiful day. Naturalist Bart Rulon.