Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 9th 2025 | 10:00 am
We began our search southward, descending into deep and mysterious fog. What were we to discover on our adventure today…
The most beautiful sea lion viewing I have been to may be this trip. Shrouded in fog and hearing ominous loud growls and barks from these large creatures was incredibly entertaining and gave me goosebumps. We got to see them fighting along the rock tops as their background was abrupt dense fog. It was intense and beautiful.
We continued in the fog through Salmon bank watching many harbor porpoise pop up before we got word of whale sightings to the north.
We escaped the fog near Goose Island and began looking for a rumored humpback but sadly it must have evaded the area. There were still very pretty views of the area and good practice for our next encounter on our search.
After driving Spieden and watching a group of Moufflon sheep grazing the coast, we arrive to a group of transient killer whales—the T019s! This mom and two sons are incredible to watch as the two sons are some of the largest killer whales in the population of transients. We watched as they hunted along the shore and presumably got a seal based on their behavior. One really unique thing about this viewing was a full breach and spin by one of the large males which we were so lucky to be a part of that moment.
Another amazing day learning about whales in the Salish Sea!