As we approach the summer solstice, whale watching in the Pacific Northwest continues to be amazing! This week we saw whales on every tour, and killer whales on 8 out of 10 tours.
This week we had visits from the T099, T046B, T036A, T034, T037, and T037A families of killer whales. We also had a lovely minke whale encounter, and encounters with several humpback whales including “Stitch”, “Valiant”, “Split Fin”, and the legend herself “Big Mama.”
On Wednesday morning’s tour, after a bit of a search, we caught up with a big group of killer whales on the south shore of Sucia Island. Immediately upon arriving we could see there was a ton of commotion on the surface. It was a group of killer whales made up of members from the T046B1, T036A family, and a male T049C. An interesting mix of whales. They were going crazy on the surface and we quickly learned they had a harbor seal rounded up and the hunt was on. It wasn’t long before they had the seal dispatched, and afterwards we saw many celebratory breaches and tail slaps. It was an epic encounter.
On Saturday’s tours, we had a couple of lovely encounters on both tours with a pair of humpbacks named “Split Fin” and “Valiant” in San Juan Channel. Valiant is a curious humpback whale and got his name for being a known harasser of killer whales. Typically its the other way around with killer whales harassing humpbacks, but with Valiant, he is known for his bravery!
It was a wonderful week on the water, we can’t wait to see what whale watching in Anacortes brings this week!
