Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | July 14th, 2025 | 2:00 PM
While every day is orca day for us, today was officially World Orca Day and we had the best time with some Bigg’s/Transient Orcas this afternoon! When we left the dock, the closest reported sighting was far north in Active Pass heading towards the Strait of Georgia, so we decided to quickly head in that direction. We made a brief stop to view some harbor seals in San Juan Channel, and then continued into Canadian Waters. We cruised through the Gulf Islands, and eventually made it out to the Strait of Georgia. Since there were no other boats in the area with the whales anymore, we began scanning everywhere as we traveled towards their last known location. Suddenly, Captain Brian spotted something in the distance, and we soon saw multiple blows and splashes! Once we caught up, we found ourselves in the midst of at least 8 individuals of Bigg’s Killer Whales, and they were quite social. From the moment we got on scene, the whales were very splashy and spread out around us. We got to see many tail slaps, some spyhops, and multiple breaches from the younger whales! There was one very large male in the mix, identified as T123A Stanley, and the youngest individual was two year old T65B3 Rook. Stanley’s dorsal stood out well above the rest, even the other younger males in the group, and we were especially impressed by how wobbly his dorsal fin would be each time he surfaced. There was not a dull moment the entire time we were on scene, and it was extra special being the only boat in the area. This was one of my favorite trips all season from how social the whales were and getting to have two of my favorite families all to ourselves as they socialized together. After lots more surface activity and some closer passes, we had to begin heading back south. We watched them continue to splash in the distance as we departed, ending our very lucky encounter for the day.