Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 30th 2025 | 10:00 am
Today was such beautiful weather and we got so lucky with our expedition for today.
We started our search north towards Spieden Island and as soon as we got there whales were sighted on the other side! Great timing! We made our way along to watch them and were greeted by the T075Bs! This family consists of the mother (Pebbles) and her children (Jasper, Rubble, Petra, and an unnamed newborn). This was an amazing experience as they started hunting in the kelp bed around the rocks here and we got to see the seal in their mouths as they pursued prey. After the shared feeding, we got great views of them seemingly celebrating their kill with spyhops, chinslaps, and tail/fin waves. It was incredibly exciting and exhilarating to see the whales in this shared moment being shown some of their most important and primal behavior as an apex predator.
One our way outbound to continue searching, we stopped at Whale Rocks to watch the many seals hauled out on the exposed surface. Today the tide was just right where some seals looked like they were sitting on the surface of the water as the rocks were mostly submerged beneath them. The seals are at the end of the pupping season and we can see many young small seals in this area including a few in the banana pose (head and tail lifted) at this sight.
We started off again but quickly whipped around to catch a hat out of the water that flew off. This perfectly timed accident allowed us to hear about another report right nearby at Waldron Island before we went too far in the opposite direction. We went over to watch another group of transient killer whales as they full speed raced in the open water. Later they slowed down and we got to be near enough to hear their beautiful breaths travelling across the calm waters. This group ended up being the T049As. The family included the mother (Nan) and 4 children (Nat, Neptune, Nebula, and Charlie II) and have a very different age/sex structure to the T075Bs which was great to contrast in our viewing today.
What an amazing time on the water! One of the best hunts I have ever witnessed. So grateful to be guests to these whales in the Salish Sea.
Photos from today's tour can be purchased from our gallery.