Whale Watching Report

We started out our day with some nice wildlife sightings right as we were leaving the dock. A bald eagle was on a sand flat just inside the breakwater, and the low tide exposed many ochre sea stars as we passed close by. On our way northward we saw several more bald eagles on Guemes Island and Jack Island, along with the eagle's nest on Jack Island. We also spotted two peregrine falcons flying on the east side of Guemes Island. It wasn't long before we were on scene with orcas on the west side of Lummi Island. K-pod and L-pod came in yesterday and we had a superpod with all three pods swimming together today!! The first group of orcas that we visited were J-pod orcas. Blackberry (J27) and Mako were being very playful for us, with a few breaches, and lots of rolling around. We watched them for about 20 minutes. Soon you could see orcas in all directions, and it was hard to tell everyone where to look because they were all over the place! Next we spotted Ruffles (j1) swimming with Faith (L57). By the time we made it over to them Ruffles had slowed down and we watched him swimming alone for 10 minutes. Knowing we would have other chances to see the superpod later in the trip we decided to peel off for a look at Peapod Rocks. On our way there captain Michael spotted a brown pelican, which is an uncommon sighting. At Peapod Rocks we found yet another bald eagle and lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. Next we headed back to the orcas as they were at the north end of Guemes Island close to shore. They continued to be very playful with L-pod and J-pod members doing spyhops, breaches, and lots of tail lobs. At one point we even saw two orcas doing a double breach at the same time! What a fantastic day! We were all very excited to see K and L pods back in town, and they seemed excited too! Naturalist - Bart Rulon