Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, August 1st, 2025 | 5:30 PM
Sunset tours are my absolute favorite. There’s just something about the beauty of golden hour that can’t be beat. Today had been a rough one for the fleet, with very few whale reports in the region. The reports that did come in were mostly out of range for the Friday Harbor boats, but as we know with whale watching, things can change in an instant. Right before boarding the M/V Sea Lion we got word that the first killer whales of the day had been spotted! The only problem, they were all the way down in Saanich Inlet. Saanich Inlet is a large narrow body of water surrounded by Vancouver Island. It is HUGE, it’s approximately 16 miles in length and creates a peninsula around Sidney B.C. If whales are found at the bottom of the Inlet, or if they are heading south, that is unfortunately out of range for us. As luck would have it, these whales were heading north, which made it possible for us to reach them. The M/V Sea Lion departed Roche Harbor and zoomed our way towards this whale report. We had no time for stops as the race against the clock was on. If these whales left the Inlet and headed northwest for the Sansom Narrows we would be out of luck.
As we made our way into Satellite Channel, we got word that the T065B’s had decided to mill around for a bit. The perfect scenario after such a long journey. As we first got on scene, I thought they were displaying hunting behavior, but it quickly became clear that this family was just busy socializing. These whales stayed non-directional for quite some time. This family of four stayed quite active, tail lobbing, spyhopping and even dorsal slapping!! T065B1/Birdsall dorsal slapped several times in a row, which is a pretty rare behavior and it’s the only time I’ve witnessed it this year. I was ecstatic! We watched as these whales splashed around before they once again became directional and headed up the coast of Salt Spring Island. We made one last stop at Sentinel rock to look at some harbor seals and also got a glimpse of some Mouflon Sheep on Spieden. We made our way back into Roche Harbor just as the sun was setting. The pink skies were the perfect end to a glorious day.