Thursday, September 10th, 2009

It was grey this morning, but looked like it would turn into a nice day. The clouds and fog banks were rising, falling and breaking apart. The sun was shining through patches in the western skies, and we knew this wet and stormy week had finally ended. We stopped to look at some harbor seals hauled out on Boulder Reef. There were also double crested cormorants, pelagic cormorants, glaucous winged gulls, California gulls and a few Heerman’s gulls skittering about. We had a report that there were some orcas on the west side of San Juan Island. We took the middle of the island route through Peavine Pass that would eventually take us down San Juan Channel in between Lopez and San Juan Islands. It’s a beautiful scenic route, good  birding………usually!  Before we could head south down San Juan Channel a passenger reported orcas right behind us off of our starboard side! SURPRISE!!!  And double surprise!!! The captain cut the engine and we sat adrift as I ran up top to see if they were residents or transients and which way they were going. We had no idea!  This is not a common place for residents to be, however, we did encounter them here last weekend.  It was L pod and as we sat in the water, they continued their route, which took them right under the boat!  We stay 100 yards off the orcas to give them their space (and it’s the law). However, in this case when we are close to them,  we are suppose to be ‘dead ‘in the water and let them go whichever way they choose. Today, they went right under the boat as they had surprised us by just being where they were! We don’t usually have a surprise like this. The leaders went by under the boat and then L72 (Racer) and her five year old calf L105 (Fluke) surfaced right beside the boat before they went under and on their way. See following photos. (Check out Racer’s beautiful ‘saddle patch’ right behind her dorsal fin, it’s a work of art!) To identify whales, we use the saddle patch behind their dorsal fins, as each one is unique. The saddle patch is a coloration mark that can be anywhere from white to charcoal grey and each one is patterned differently.  Also, some of the dorsal fins have notches and variations in them which make them even easier to identify from a distance. As we drifted with the whales, they turned north up San Juan Channel. They stopped to chase fish along the way, and pretty soon, a few other whale watching boats joined us as the word got out. When we came out to the part of the channel where it widens, the fun began. The orcas started going acrobatic! There were breaches, spyhops, taillobs, and cartwheels. By now, the sun had come out in full force……we were surrounded by the beautiful islands, calm seas……….and the orcas were spread out everywhere! Wow! We could have been going on our course and missed this whole afternoon! The whales would have kept behind us and headed north, and we would have headed south!  We wouldn’t have known they were right behind us! Eventually, we would have encountered K pod, and possibly J pod on the west side of San Juan Island, but here we were! Our journey was lessened by an hour or so and it was a spectacular sighting! Here are some great photos, and our passengers also took some that they will forward. What a great day!  We did try to see some birds on the way home: common murres, rhinoceros auklets, a great blue heron, and some pigeon guillemots…..but our focus had turned towards the orcas rather than the great birding that would have happened if we had continued going south down San Juan Channel instead of heading north!