T14 the lone male!

photo by guest Christophe Paubert in August 2008. T14 with Mt. Baker in the background.

Crossed into Canadian waters today, over towards Discovery Island where we had a great encounter with T14, the lone male. T14 is a transient orca, who's travel companion, his mom T13 is no longer alive. He is often seen cruising alone or with other transient pods. Today we had great views...he did shallow surface dives, followed by a longer dive. He would stay down for several minutes and we were never quite sure where he would pop up! As he got in towards the shore, just off the Discovery Island lighthouse T14 was playing in the kelp, going back and forth draping it on his tail. Very nice views!

On our way back in we were fortunate enough to see 3 Stellar Sea Lions hauled out on Whale Rocks. One of them was just enormous!! They really do remind me of bears with their thick necks and rusty colored fur! The Harbor Seals on the opposite side of Whale Rocks were dwarfed in comparison to the Stellars.

Just a beautiful September day on the water. Our guests were thrilled with the outcome of the afternoon!

-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist