Orcas near Point Robert, AGAIN

Today we had to travel quite a distance to find the whales south of Point Roberts, however, the time it took to get there was worth the trip. After our journey out, we found J Pod traveling towards the Rosario Strait. For much of viewing, we travelled alongside J26, Mike. Mike was much more easy to distinguish because of his large dorsal fin, male ocras dorsal fins can get up to six feet tall, much taller than females. Also, it was harder to identify the others traveling with him because they were at a further distance. After leaving the Orcas we stopped by White Rock to view a herd of harbor seals basking in the sun and a bald eagle sitting atop the rock. The harbor seals had warmed so much in the sun people actually saw steam rising from the seals backs when viewing them through binoculars. While cruising back to harbor, a few guests spotted harbor porpoises swimming along. All and all, it was a wonderful trip. At the end of the trip we had seen Orcas, harbor seals, bald eagles, harbor porpoises, and a variety of seabirds. After many days of rain, today's weather cleared up and heading into Friday Harbor we travelled along mirror-calm sky-blue waters.

Ashley Chapman, Naturalist