Orca Whales in Sight!!
The Island Explorer 3 is on-scene with the Orca Whales! Click here to see the position of the Orca Whales from space and stay tuned to the Whale report for details on today's tour from Naturalist Kate Janes!
Showing Off (Cappuccino K21)Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes
Whale Waterfall (Cappuccino K21)
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes
"We started our day in the inner islands visiting with some Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Pigeon Guillemots, and Rhinoceros Auklets as we made our way southward through Cattle Pass! We found a mixture of whales, portions of J, K & L pods of Orcas, just southeast of Discovery Island! A small swell was forming in the waters at the south end of Haro Strait causing the Orcas to bring more of their rostrums out of the water giving our guests great looks as they swam by!! Young Cappuccino (K21) appeared to be showing off in front of Grace (L2), maybe in attempts to win over her daughter Splash (L67) who was swimming just ahead of the pair! After a few respiration's Cappuccino was belly up doing upside down taillobes and ended with an impressive backdive! While on his belly his HUGE pectoral fins were visible giving our guests an ideal of just how big he is- and he is still growing!! We eventually had to leave the whales as they continued heading towards the west side of San Juan Island northbound. Our journey home took us through new waters taking us along the south side of San Juan & Lopez Islands. It was near Iceberg Point that a Minke Whale appeared from the watery depths!! This large female, approximately the same size as Cappuccino, was a great illustration for our guests on the physical differences between toothed & baleen whales!! This doubleheader was a great note to end our morning trip on!! This afternoon we revisited the inner islands, but this time took a different route! Entering through Thatcher Pass we then took Upright Channel southward and it looked like we would be returning to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, but instead we headed north up San Juan Channel! The inner island cruise allowed our guests glimpses of Bald Eagles perched high in conifers along many of the islands shorelines, Harbor Seals swimming the frigid waters & hauled out on rocky outcroppings, and Pigeon Guillemots diving for baitfish! We found the Orcas belonging to J, K & L pods near the Canadian Gulf Island of Saturna in glass calm waters! Slowly moving northward up Boundary Pass we caught up with Cappuccino (K21) once again, however he was traveling with his older sister this time, Raggedy (K40)! The siblings eventually rounded Java Rocks and began milling about together rolling and rubbing in play! We left just as 3 other whales joined Cappuccino & Raggedy past the point!" - Naturalist Kate Janes
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 5:42 PM
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home