Transient Orca Whales Near Thatcher Pass
Transient Orca Whales reported near Anacortes in the Rosario Strait area. The Island Explorer 3 departs today at 12PM - stay tuned for updates on today's tour.
9/18/09: Private Charter - orca whales were in the area.
9/19/09: Today we knew exactly where the the Orca Whales were - north of the Fraser River, way up in Canada, eh. Unfortunately, even with the great range of The Island Explorer 3, the whales were well to the north. Each of our guests recieved a pass to come back with us again for free, for life, until we show them whales! Even though we couldn't quite get to the orcas, we had a beautiful day on the water. We headed southbound in Rosario Strait to cover that area in the whale search. We did a slow down through Colville Island and Castle Rock were we saw some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, turkey vultures soaring above Lopez Island and it was a nice break from the breeze. We headed northbound to continue the search. A customer found some great harbor porpoise near Blakely Island. On Peapod Rocks, Captain Carl found 5 Stellar Sealions hauled out. Something startled the sealions and they all scurried into the water. The birds all took flight. It was quite amazing. We found a few more sealions playing in the water as we continued our search. We eventually turned around at Alden Bank, near the Canadian border, as our time was growing shorter. The sun was shining and the water was so calm. It was a beautiful ride back to the dock. Our customers enjoyed a fabulous boat ride and they have passes to come back and see us again soon!
9-20-2009:
Pulling smartly out of the dock, we had all the ingredients for a splendid afternoon of wildlife viewing; flat calm water, bright sunshine and fabulous guests.
We caught up with the tail end of J-pod as they were cruising around the south end of Lopez Island. Captain Carl kept us at a most respectable distance and within a short period of time brought the Island Explorer 3 to a stop.
The whales were extremely active and we witnessed behaviors that are always impressive. Short bursts of speed swimming at the surface, coupled with sharp direction changes were telltale signs that the Orcas were pursuing unlucky salmon that had blundered into their path.
Sitting quietly with the engines turned off, we could hear the sound of orca respirations; even though most of the animals were a good distance away from us. Without warning and from out of nowhere, J-30's explosive exhalation 300 feet off the port side of our boat surprised us all! Aided by the glassy water and Riptide's determination to get his lunch, we were able to see this agile, massive predator in action.
The excitement level on the boat and in the water stayed high due to multiple bouts of breaching behavior. Even the calves joined in!
On our way back to port we were able to watch some sleepy harbor seals basking in the sun and a very active Steller sea lion who was too busy fishing to give us a moment of his time. We encountered a small group of harbor porpoise in the same area as our Steller. Birds seen included: Common Murres, Pelagic Cormorants, Double-crested Cormorants, Heermann's Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls and Great Blue Herons. Naturalist Vicki Kirkland
We caught up with the tail end of J-pod as they were cruising around the south end of Lopez Island. Captain Carl kept us at a most respectable distance and within a short period of time brought the Island Explorer 3 to a stop.
The whales were extremely active and we witnessed behaviors that are always impressive. Short bursts of speed swimming at the surface, coupled with sharp direction changes were telltale signs that the Orcas were pursuing unlucky salmon that had blundered into their path.
Sitting quietly with the engines turned off, we could hear the sound of orca respirations; even though most of the animals were a good distance away from us. Without warning and from out of nowhere, J-30's explosive exhalation 300 feet off the port side of our boat surprised us all! Aided by the glassy water and Riptide's determination to get his lunch, we were able to see this agile, massive predator in action.
The excitement level on the boat and in the water stayed high due to multiple bouts of breaching behavior. Even the calves joined in!
On our way back to port we were able to watch some sleepy harbor seals basking in the sun and a very active Steller sea lion who was too busy fishing to give us a moment of his time. We encountered a small group of harbor porpoise in the same area as our Steller. Birds seen included: Common Murres, Pelagic Cormorants, Double-crested Cormorants, Heermann's Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls and Great Blue Herons. Naturalist Vicki Kirkland
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 9:04 AM
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