Playing Catch-Up!

My head is spinning. The past several days have been so busy in the world of the orcas that I haven't had much time to write any blogs. So with this blog, I'm going to combine several encounters into one.

We've had a lot of fog and rainy weather lately. However that doesn't mean we stop whale watching. On the 26th we left for our noon trip with no reports of orcas. This was not surprising since it was so foggy out and there are less boats on the water this time of year. We traveled to the north because a large group of whales had been seen going toward the Fraser River the night before. Our zodiac the Western Explorer zoomed around Boundary Pass while we, on the Western Prince II,  covered northern Haro Strait and Turn Point. What did we find? Fog and a lot of empty water. I think our passengers began to lose faith... UNTIL! A report came flooding over the radio waves - orcas at Salmon Bank! Yahoo! We quickly motored down to the south end of the island while watching surfing Dall's porpoise along the way. We had a mystical encounter with the orcas (the L22's and the K12's) despite the fog and I think everyone really enjoyed the trip.

L79 "Skana" travels into the fog:

On the 27th, we had more overcast and foggy weather. The majority of L pod had been hanging out at Lime Kiln Lighthouse for the morning until they eventually decided to put on a little steam and head south. They were quite spread out, but still moving in small groups and WOW was there a lot of fishing going on. It seemed like everyone was chasing salmon. Of course, when it comes to these orcas, that's always a good thing. We want them to be fat with full bellies - I think this year, that has not been a problem.

L84 "Nyssa" breaches. It's always a thrill to see the big males come out of the water:

L86 "Surprise!" shows off her kelping skills. Here she is holding the kelp in her mouth while draping the stem over her body:

Today, the stunning September weather returned to the San Juans - blue skies, calm, and SUPERPOD in Boundary Pass! It is incredible to see SO many whales jumbled together in a tight spot. Today, whales combined with brilliant weather = a jaw-dropping afternoon.

Fins, fins, FINS...everywhere we looked - FINS:

Spyhop! This orca seemed to be saying, "Are we at Turn Point? Lemme check... YEP! Turn Point! Time to turn the corner, everyone! Time to turn the corner! Here we GO...SOUTH!":

We followed the whales into Spieden Channel. Before we left for home, L41 "Mega" did two tremendous breaches. This is an odd angle (looking at his back), but look at the size of those pecs! Okay, his name fits him perfectly:

Just another day in paradise. Hope to see you tomorrow, whales. Cheers everyone. Nighty night!