Logan | June 26th, 2025 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00pm
Despite clouds and rain, our adventure was not dampened. After gearing up in suits and onboarding the M/V Kestrel, our party found quite a few Harbor Porpoise on our first jaunt Southward. Then we ventured further—encountering Harbor Seals hauled out on Goose Island on our merry way. Reaching Whale Rocks, we spotted some large and elegant Steller’s Sea lions on top of the exposed-out crop. Despite wanting to spend forever looking at these beautiful pinnipeds, we were immediately interrupted by a rude (but quite welcomed) guest appearance of a Humpback Whale at Cattle Pass. Okay maybe not rude – the great presence of this whale brought us so much excitement with wonderful fluking and long breaths at the surface that honestly made the trip.
Captain Vaun heard rumor of another whale in the area, so we began exploring endless rafting of Glaucous Winged Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Cormorants to find this elusive being. After a long moment of uncertainty and anticipation, it emerged! Minke whale! The Minke was rising to eat in a bait ball accompanied by many of our bird friends in Salmon Bank. Then we see something following along the San Juan Island coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca... the famous icons... killer whales! Two matrilines (groups of a mother and her children) were hanging with each other—the T039Bs and T099s. They were spread out and coming up for air all over the place so there was little time without a whale above water. Dorsal fin after dorsal fin they kept us very engaged in our whale viewing. The whales made our day one of the most successful outings! This area continues to excite and reward, and I am very happy to help connect people to it like what I felt from our group today.