Transient Orca Kill

The following video was sent in to us by our guest Thijs Bekkers. He went out on the MV Sea Lion on Sunday, September 14. The video is of the T18s killing a Harbor Seal near Yellow Island in San Juan Channel. Enjoy! (Don't worry, it's not bloody.)

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=rrNwGnBoFK8

September Whales

Below: An orca spy hops off San Juan Island. Photo by guest Christophe Paulbert from the Sea

Lion.

The whale watching season is drawing to a close. We only have a few solid weeks left of tours and then we are only taking people out on the weekends. It seems as if the orcas know the end is near and the past two days have been excellent shows!!!

Today, we met up with J Pod and members of K and L in Boundary Pass, just south of East Point on Saturna Island. The animals were moving at a pretty steady clip west towards the Haro Strait. They were porpoising out of the water, moving similar to a swimmer doing the butterfly stroke, bringing most of their bodies out of the water so it appeared they were hydroplaning. (Micheal Phelps, although an amazing swimmer, has nothing on these guys.) They continued to move through the pass with breaks to forage and socialize. We caught some great breaches, cartwheels, and spy hops throughout the trip. They really seemed to be in a good mood. We even saw J36 (Alki) breach multiple times near her mother and little sister (J16 and J42). She would breach (that means jump) with every respiration! Instead of simply exposing her blowhole for air, she leapt out of the water nearly six times! All our aspiring photographers were able to get great shots of her showing off because her repetition allowed them to point their cameras in the right spot. This allowed us to talk about why they breach, which is still somewhat of a mystery. It could be because they're in a good mood, to dislodge parasites, to sluff off skin, a means of aggression, or a means of communication. If only we could get into their minds and give meaning to such behaviors... until then we're left to speculate. Although, I wouldn't mind thinking it's because they're happy.

I only have a week left before I move to LA for the winter and although every time I see them it's a treat, these last few encounters will be extra special to me. They definitely made this encounter one to remember.

Call today to make a reservation... time is running out!!!!!!

Megan Young, Naturalist

Fall has Arrived

Today was a brisk fall day on the island and the crisp air was perfect for seeing transients.

We began the trip with no confirmed sightings and went north in search of rumored Ts. However, we abandoned this search in order to make it to Hein Bank for the Ts who were reported to be hanging out there and moving in our direction. Once on scene, we were quick to realize we had T20 and T21 (T20's dorsal fin is difficult to mistake). T21 was a perfect example of a transient fin and gave our guest a clear demonstration of that triangular fin, which was in contrast to our ID photos of the residents' curved and rounded fins. The animals were swimming apart (about four hundred yards), which is not far for orcas who can communicate to one another over much farther distances. They were diving for about 6-7 minutes between 4-6 respirations. There were Dall's Porpoises in the area and the Ts didn't seem to be in a hungry mood given their lack of interest.

On our way back to Friday Harbor, after circumnavigating San Juan Island, we saw a group of 14 Steller Sea Lions hauled out of the rocks with at least three in the water! They were all sunning themselves majestically on the rocks. It was nice to see such a big group of males together and it seems they are coming back from their summer hiatus to the Aleutian Islands.

Today was another top notch trip and we look forward to hitting the "high seas" again tomorrow at 1pm. We still have a few spots left so reserve your trip ASAP!

Megan Young, Naturalist

All Things in Time

Today was one of those days where we left the harbor with no reports of orcas in our area. We decided to head north up San Juan Channel and look for other wildlife, while keeping a watchful eye on the water for transient orcas.

We saw several Pacific Harbor Seals hauled out and swimming in the water... but no sign of the ever sneaky Ts. However, this didn't last long. While admiring the seals, we got a report of Ts hanging out at Hein Bank. We booked it across the north side of Speiden and then down the Haro Strait to meet up with them.

We encountered the T30s (T30, T30A, T30B, and T30C) moseying along in a tight group. They weren't going anywhere fast, didn't appear to be hunting, and weren't vocalizing at all. Apparently T30A was tagged a few days ago and his family group was returning to our area after spending a few days off the west coast of Vancouver Island. (It's amazing how far these guys can travel in just a few days!) We got some great looks at all the animals, but T30A seemed to be the favorite of the day (perhaps because his tall dorsal is easier to take pictures of).

We ended up circumnavigating San Juan Island and caught a glimpse of three Steller Sea Lions frolicking in the kelp just off Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. The Stellers are a sure sign that fall is just around the corner...

Megan Young, Naturalist

Tag Talk

Photo: T14 "Pender" taken by Adam U aboard the Sea Lion this June.

We had an interesting encounter today with the T18s, not only because of their behavior, but because we could catch a glimpse of a research vessel in action as well.

We saw the T18s in Rosario just outside of Thatcher Pass. The research vessel Phocoena was on scene and had just put a tag on T19B. From chatter on the radio, it seemed the animal was darted in the middle of his fin and the device will stay on a few days and record his pattern of travel over time. It would be interesting to see what the Ts' travel patterns are. Although in the short term, they seem to be erratic, they may have a "pattern" over time. (Like T14 who seems to circumnavigate Vancouver Island.)

The animals moved from Thatcher Pass up Rosario and then back through Peavine Pass and we left them in Upright Channel. It was difficult to predict their movements today because they were making long dives and swimming in no particular direction. They would dive going one way and surface somewhere completely different! Typical Transients! The data the research vessel collects should make an interesting picture... probably like a two year old's nonsensical scribbling.

Despite their inconvenient dives, we had a spectacular trip and really got to see the typical movement of Transients.

Megan Young, Naturalist

Close Encounters of the Cultural Kind

Photo Below: Male orca taken by Christophe Paulbert from the Sea Lion this summer.

Today was probably one of the best opportunities for our guests to see the difference between Residents and Transients and what happens when they're in close quarters.

We left today out of Friday Harbor heading up San Juan Channel toward members of J, K, and L pods. However, we turned around when word surfaced that some L Pod members were near Fisherman's Bay on Lopez Island. We decided to head to them and encountered the L4s along with who we believe were members of the L21s. The animals were tightly grouped and backlit, which made a positive ID difficult. They appeared to be milling around and socializing until they decided to move up San Juan Channel and possibly toward the northern group we heard about earlier. However, we got word shortly after this behavior change that Transients were in Griffin Bay, just a few miles south of us! Upon further investigation, we found it was the T18s. They also made their way up San Juan Channel in the same direction as the Residents!

We were really able to observe the differences between the two cultures. We saw how they travel differently in different sized groups and in different patterns all together. We could see the physical differences in dorsal fins and saddle patches as well as different hunting techniques. Throughout most of our encounter the Residents and the Transients were roughly 1/4 mile apart!!! However, they were never in physical contact that we could see. In fact, they appeared to mostly ignore each other. We stayed with the Ts for the second half of the trip and ended our encounter with a nice Harbor Seal kill near Yellow Island... again Transients showing us just how different they are.

The weather was great and the whales were spectacular! We still have spots available for tomorrow's trip. Call for a reservation!

Megan Young, Naturalist

Block Party

Below: Another photo from our guest Christophe Paulbert, taken from the Sea Lion this July.

It seems like every time we see orcas we have a uniquely memorable encounter. We met up with members of J and L pods and possible members from K. In fact, a guest spotted J1 in an area we were not expecting to see orcas, just outside Cattle Pass. We decided to stop and hang out with J1 and J2 as they foraged just up-island of Salmon Bank, roughly 3/4 miles off shore.

We decided to move on from J1 and J2 in favor of a larger group further up-island from them. We encountered animals we believe to be from K pod here. I think we saw K20 and her calf K38... K20 is usually quite obvious, but she was slicing straight through the water and I couldn't see her saddle. However, I did wonder who "that guy" was, and when I saw the calf I instantly guessed K20. K20 aka Spock was believed to be a male until she showed up with a calf due to her larger and straighter dorsal fin. We also saw a large group of roughly 25 animals from J and L pods. Although it appeared there were more animals there than we identified, we for sure saw most members of the J17s, J11s, J19s, J22s, J16s, J8 (basically all of J Pod), and the L43s. They were swimming tightly together, but not all surfacing in sequence, which made it easier to see who was there. They appeared to be heading in the direction of Hein Bank when we left them around 3:30PM.

Megan Young, Naturalist

J Pod Returns... again... and with friends

Below: Photo by Christophe Paulbert from the Sea Lion this July.

J Pod reappeared off Victoria today after a short stint (one day) out west... only this time they came with friends.

We took off from Friday Harbor to make it to all three resident pods who were swimming towards on a flood tide from west of Race Rocks. We planned our course directly to the residents, just in case they slowed down, which they did once they got outside the city of Victoria. All together they were just about 17 miles away from us, one way. Our guests were happy to make it to them and learned about our residents, transients, general orca facts, the geology of the area, and sea birds along the way. (The long trip gave us plenty of time to answer questions and explore conversations we normally don't have time for.)

We believe we saw J14 and J30 when we came on scene, but they were a bit far away to confirm an ID. We also saw K11 plowing through the water on her way into the Haro Strait with the rest of the resident pods. K11 can be tricky to ID because she doesn't arch her back very often to expose her full saddle patch, but after looking at some guests' photos, her presence became obvious. We spent the beginning of the trip at a distance, watching the animals travel past the city, and were surprised when L85 (Mystery) and his cousin L22 (Spirit) showed up right near our boat! It appeared that some salmon were hiding near our boat and these two took advantage of that. We shut down, watching them herding and feeding on the salmon... they were either doing that or enjoying the lovely naked orca Captain Nancy painted on the bottom of our boat. LOL. We also had another close pass from L57 (Faith) as he travelled relatively alone in the group. The animals were very spread out and difficult to keep track of, but we had some really awesome looks at L Pod animals on their way back into our area. Hopefully they stick around a while.

On our way back to Friday Harbor, we stopped for a Harbour Porpoise calf who seemed to be disoriented as it leaped repeatedly out of the water. Longer observation did not reveal a predator or a larger porpoise. As far as we could tell, this animal was very small and all alone. There were reports of Ts near Constance Bank earlier in the day, but this animal was seen behaving strangely near Salmon Bank. Hopefully the little one is alright... as a guest put it, "It's probably just happy and wanting to jump around." Let's hope that's the case.

Megan Young, Naturalist

Check This Out

Check out these photos that our guest Gina Dawson took of our Residents yesterday!

Above: The RV Starlet, a Center for Whale Research Boat with a member of J Pod

Whale Watch Season is not over yet! Make your reservation for September today: fewer crowds, beautiful weather, same great crew! 1-800-450-6858.

T Party

This summer has been amazing for transient orca encounters. We've gone over two weeks seeing orcas EVERY day... that's pretty incredible for this time of the year.

Today we met up with the T18s as they headed east in Boundary Pass near Saturna Island in Canada. There are four animals in this family group: T18, T19, and T19's two offspring T19B and T19C. T19B is a big boy for his age, thirteen, and we got some really great looks at him as he and his family made close passes to the shoreline. Most of their behavior appeared to be simply traveling because there were multiple seals in the area and they even buzzed past Boiling Reef on their was into the Strait of Georgia without any known or obvious kills.

We had a great time paralleling Saturna Island with them and then we stopped to check our Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles before heading back to Friday Harbor in time for the 5:00 Ferry.

***Lately we have been seeing the Transients. There are three commonly identified distinctive groups of orca cultures: Resident, Transient , and Off-shore. The main factors which set each species apart are - social behavior, physical appearance, preferred food, and vocal dialects. We most commonly see Southern Resident Orcas and Transient Orcas in the San Juan Islands, however some Offshore sightings have occured in the past but are incredibly rare.***

Megan Young, Naturalist

A Long Way Gone

We made it! We got to the orcas after 26 nautical miles ONE WAY nearly to Port Angeles, WA. We encountered the T46s and T30A just outside Port Angeles and boy was it an adventure! Not only did we travel far to get to them, but when we arrived on scene we witnessed a kill.

As said in previous blogs, the Transients are a different culture of orcas and eat marine mammals as opposed to fish, like our Residents. We believe the animal they pursued and ate together was a porpoise. Chatter on the radio was that there was a rib cage and lungs floating in the area and the research vessel on site was scooping them up for analysis. It would be interesting to learn the toxin levels in the animal they consumed because the Transients have some of the highest toxin levels exhibited in examined marine mammals. Learning about what affects lower animals on the food chain will give us better insight into how to help our declining orca population.

After the porpoise kill, the Ts took their time playing, spy hopping, and rolling around each other. They definently seemed content with their meal. Again, this was another long trip, but the orcas were well worth it. Today was a true exhibit of the circle of life: the death of a porpoise and a relatively new orca calf in T46B2.

Megan Young, Naturalist

T Time

Below: T20 and T21 taken by our guest Christophe Paulbert aboard the Sea Lion. Notice the female's triangular, pointy dorsal fin? That's typical for transients. Also take a look at those big solid saddle patches behind the dorsal, another common trait in "Ts."

August and September are usually spotty months for orca sightings, however, this year we've seen orcas nearly EVERY time on the water. If the residents are out of range, we seem to be finding groups of transients in our area.

Today, we had another encounter with the T30s, four orcas which include the mother T30 and her offspring: T30A (a male born in 1986), T30 B (born in 1993), and T30C (born in 2005). The family was cruising around near Dungeness Spit. For those of you not from the area, that's about a forty mile round trip from Friday Harbor aka it's far! We travelled a long way, but it was well worth it to spend some quality time with the T30s. The trusty Sea Lion did us well on this long voyage, her speed really came into play because we were one of the few boats that made it to them.

They were swimming in a tight group and being typical transients, silently traveling in an erratic pattern making long dives paired with multiple respiration's between. We got a really great look at the group as they popped up ahead of us at one point and allowed all our guests them clearly through the fog. They were all happy to have made it to this group and couldn't stop chatting about how wonderful they are.

On our way back in to Friday Harbor, we stopped at Whale Rocks to look at FIVE male Steller Sea Lions swimming through the kelp. These guys look like bears gliding through the water, especially when seen near the Harbour Seals.

All in all the trip was spectacular and the orcas proved worth the journey... as they always are. We still have spots available for tomorrow. Call now to reserve.

Megan Young, Naturalist

Gender Roles

Below: Orca Cartwheel taken aboard the Sea Lion by our guest Christophe Paulbert in July of 2008.

Today was yet another amazing day with all three pods!


We met up with members of J, K, and L pods just east of East Point on Saturna Island. They were spread out between Saturna Island and the middle of Boundary Pass. The interesting thing about the groups, was that they were initially divided into male groups and female groups. We got a spectacular look at a group of calf-bearing females and young females all traveling together inshore. This group had around thirteen members and included mother-calf pairs of J19 (Sachi) and J41 (Eclipse), J16 (Slick) and her two youngest calves J42 and J36 (Alki), L72 (Racer) and her son L105 (Fluke), K14 (Lea) with her two youngest K36 (Yoda) and K42. This group also included J31 (Tsuchi) and J28 (Polaris). The group was mostly comprised of females and I was happy to see J28 in the mix... could she be being groomed for motherhood by the other females? I sure hope so. She's fifteen years old and at the age of having her first calf. Perhaps her presence in this group sugests something about her reproductive condition... or maybe it's just me being hopeful.


We also saw some of the boys hanging out together: J30 (Riptide), K26 (Lobo), J1 (Ruffles) and L57 (Faith). Towards the end of our encounter (around 3:30 pm) they seemed to join up in more mixed groups. We left them in the middle of Boundary Pass toward the east end of South Pender Island.


Our guests really enjoyed getting looks at all three pods and seeing so many "mammas and babies" together. We have another trip going out tomorrow at 1:00 pm and it's filling fast! Call for reservations: 800-450-6858. Happy Adventures!

Megan Young, Naturalist

Marine Mammal Extravaganza

Below: J16 with year old calf J42 taken by Adam U on June 3, 2008 aboard our boat the MV Sea Lion.

Today was mirror calm as we headed out from Friday Harbor to South Beach, on southwestern San Juan Island. We got word the Southern Residents were back within range and were moving south down San Juan Island.

When we arrived on scene, we got a few decent looks at some females, but they weren't arching at all and it was difficult to see the saddle to get a positive ID. We continued to parallel the animals, but moved north to meet up with the larger groups ahead. We had some great looks at L74 (Saanich) a 22 year old male as he moved down island with other members of L Pod. L74 has an interesting family group because there are no longer producing females in this matriline (aka the old L9s). The only female is L5 (Tanya) who is 44 years old and her youngest calf (that we know of) was born in 1986 and is a male named Flash. Flash and Saanich are cousins and there were reports of Flash and Tanya in our vicinity, but we paralleled Saanich so as not to get stuck in a bad position. We allowed L74 to move on and stopped to get a nice look at L67 (Splash) as she logged at the surface near the Center for Whale Research boat. We watched her logging for a few minutes and then she seemed to become more active and gave us a nice look at her saddle and nicks, this was great for our group because she's an easy animal to learn what to look for in the identification process. We did not see her youngest calf, L101 (Aurora) in the immediate vicinity and are unsure whether he's been seen this year. We will have to keep our eyes peeled and our ears open for any reports of L101. Splash was the mother of Luna (L98) the orca who found his way to Nootka Sound of the west side of Vancouver Island. Let's hope she has better luck with L101.

Not only did we have an incredible orca encounter, on our way back to Cattle Pass, we saw a Minke Whale lunge feeding in a bird ball! (See the drawing of a Minke Whale above.) Minkes are the smallest members of the "finner" whales and often get overlooked because of the charismatic orcas. It was nice for our guests to see orcas (Dolphins/toothed whales) and a Minke, which is a baleen whale. We got a few good looks as the Minke as it headed towards Cattle Point and then moved on to see a group of FOUR male Steller Sea Lions playing near Whale Rocks! They were rolling around and splashing over each other, which was quite the show.

We had an incredible trip in which we got great looks at many of the marine mammals that call the San Juan Islands home... at some point during the year.

We still have space available for tomorrow. Call in for a reservation: 800-450-6858.

Megan Young, Naturalist

Unconfirmend L Pod Baby

Our evening trip last night was extremely exciting because we may have had some of the first looks at the newest member of the Southern Resident Community! We spent our time with the L47s (Marina, Moonlight, Muncher, and L110... soon to receive a name ~ make sure you vote for Marley). However, there was one other member in this group who appeared to be just hours old. L110, who is just turning one year old made this animal look quite small. The calf appeared to be swimming closest to L47, Marina and was very pinkish orange, but difficult to get a perfect look at because it was being sheltered in the middle of the group. The other whale watch operators on the water agreed that it appeared to be the newest member of L Pod who would be less than 24 hrs old!!! This means that we got some of the first looks at this potentially new member. We are awaiting word from the Center for Whale Research to confirm our sighting. Hopefully we will know within the next few days whether our suspicions are confirmed and L47 has a new kid. This would be her fifth calf. Her older two are still alive, however her two most recent passed away as young calves. If this animal is truly new and truly hers, lets hope it makes it through this next tough year.

Megan Young, Naturalist

Living to Learn, Learning to Live

Below: Photo taken June 3, 2008 by our guest Adam U. There are three identifiable whales in this photo. The third fin from the left belongs to DoubleStuf (J34). In front of DoubleStuf is his younger sibling Cookie (J38) and behind the two of them is their mother, Oreo (J22). DoubleStuf has a very skinny young-sprouter fin, Cookie is only five and so much smaller than the others, and Oreo has two little black spots on her eye patch on the left side, which you can see if you click on the photo.

Today was an incredible day, not just because we saw Js and some Ls... which is always incredible, but also because we had guests who were very excited to learn. They wanted to hear about our animals and environmental issues on the whole... which makes our staff very happy.

We first encountered the whales just off South Beach and they travelled back and forth from False Bay to Salmon Bank for about an hour. The animals were split up into small groups, with some inshore and others about two miles offshore. We specifically encountered multiple small groups and were surprised to see that some of the matrilines were split up so that animals of similar ages were foraging together. We saw fifteen year old J28 (Polaris), who is my personal favorite, travelling with her ten year old little sister Tahlequah (J35) and thirteen year old Tsuchi (J31). These teenage and preteen girls seemed to enjoy our company and we paralleled them for a while before seeing the J14s (Samish, Riptide, Hy'shqa, and Suttles) who were the only full matriline we saw today. We also got brief looks at J22 (Oreo) with her five year old calf Cookie (J38), however her sprouter son DoubleStuf (J34) was not in sight. We also caught some surfaces from J26 (Mike) as he travelled with L57 (Faith) and L53 (Lulu). We left the animals at about 3:15 pm as they headed down island toward Iceberg Point, but given their afternoon behavior, that is subject to change.

We encountered a nice group of animals, but we had an even nicer group of people. Our guests were extremely interested in the orcas and their plight, as well as in discussing environmental issues as a whole. I personally believe that we owe it to this population of animals to not simply enjoy them, but to learn about them as well. Regardless of personal opinions of conservation and environmental issues, I think we can all agree that if we don't change our destructive habits these orcas won't be the only ones suffering. Orcas are the apex predators in this ecosystem and are key indicators to the health of the environment. If they are having problems now, what are we as the dominant predators on the planet in for? Mothers on the boat voiced that they were concerned for the future their children would have to deal with if we don't make changes. "We do not inherit the environment from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." ~ Native American Proverb.

Megan Young, Naturalist

Calm Water

Today was a fabulous day! The sun was shining, the water was calm, and Js and Ls were on the move. We visited the two pods on the west side of San Juan Island. Our first trip took us to False Bay. Our subsequent trips found us at the entrance to Mosquito Pass and then north of Stuart Island. The animals seemed to be moving quite fast all day and with purpose. We got positive IDs on L57, J1, J2, J22, J34, J17, the J11s and L53. The animals seemed to become a bit playful as the day progressed and we even saw a J1 BREACH!!!! (A first for me.) We also saw multiple cartwheels and spy hops. The conditions today were perfect for whale and wildlife watching and we look forward to our trips tomorrow.

Megan, Naturalist

It's a Mystery

The photo below is of L57 (Faith) by one of our guests, Herb Hartmann, aboard the Sea Lion.

The orcas were back! We had a great encounter with Ls after two days without the Residents. It's always nice to see Ks or Ls as a naturalist because it allows me the chance to get to know them better.

We began our encounter at South Beach with the L22s. We were alerted to their presence by L79 (Skana)'s large dorsal as we was playing with his little brother L89 (Solstice). Spirit (L22), their mother, followed behind them while whale researchers took ID photos for proof of presence of this matriline. Unfortunately this group has only one female in L22. She is the last producing female of this matriline since her mother and aunt passed away. We watched this subgroup frolicking along the shoreline and then branched out to see a sprouter male offshore towards Salmon Bank. This male turned out to be Mystery (L85)... who followed his namesake because he was tough to ID. We were looking at mature male photos, which he wasn't included in since he began sprouting in 2004. (We call adolescent males sprouters because they begin "sprouting" a manly dorsal fin at the onset of sexual maturity.) Mystery gave us more surprises when he went down for a deep dive and surfaced right next to our boat! (Somebody needs to teach these guys the rules... 100 yds!) After letting Mystery pass, who turns out to be Spirit's cousin, we watched Spirit's younger brother Onyx (L87) as researchers took some proof of presence ID shots of him as well. Onyx was born in 1992 and is also in the process of sprouting that tall male dorsal fin.

It's always nice to go out on the water and see the orcas as well as the researchers, which provides an opportunity for our guests to learn about the animals as well as the people who are diligently working to protect them. Many times the best way to protect something is to learn more about it so we can be better equipped to save it by understanding what key factors are in its decline. We are happy to work alongside the researchers by sharing information to keep these guys around for future generations.

Megan Young, Naturalist

To the Frazer River and Beyond!

A group of orcas photographed by guest Adam U from the Sea Lion on June 3, 2008. Yesterday we encountered members of J and K pods waaaaaaay north of the US/Canadian Border just outside of Vancouver, BC and slightly south of the Frazer River. The trip totaled over 60 miles round trip! (But it was well worth it because we got to see the animals foraging for salmon just outside the Frazer River.)

We got some great looks at J17 (Princess Angeline) and her fifteen year old daughter, J28 (Polaris). Polaris is my favorite animal, so of course that made the trip even better. Our guests were excited to see the orcas, and the long haul up there built the anticipation even more. They were able to ask many questions about the animals and before we knew it, we travelled north of the coal docks and Point Roberts and could literally look into the city of Vancouver. This is the farthest we've been on a whale watch and our guests couldn't have been happier.

We caught a few breaches from a distance, but most of their time appeared to be spent foraging and travelling north. We left the animals just south of the Frazer and just in time to get back for our 5:30 trip. We have two trips going out again today and look forward to seeing where the orcas pop up. (They can travel up to 100 miles a day, so even though they were far yesterday, they could end up right in our back yard today.)


Megan Young, Naturalist

A (nearly) cloudless day

Today aboard the Sea Lion my crew mates and our guests went east through the islands to Rosario strait, near the city of Anacortes. The cascade range was clear, and the sky was a brilliant light blue. It is always a bit colder on the ocean than on land, but I didn't notice until the ocean spray hit me as I leaned too far out! It was an exciting (and a little salty)!

We saw J-Pod family members today. Slick was with her calf! I haven't seen them myself for several weeks. The baby is very cute! I was happy to see them, and they reminded me of how much fun I had with my mom when I was little. They were also traveling with another female and a few other males, including Slick's brother Keet. They were all traveling at their own pace on this lazy day.

Now I'm back on land, and already ready to go out again!

-Sarah, Naturalist