A dreamy spring day with the T419s + the T123s in Samish Bay
We decided to book an early spring campsite at San Juan County Park, which can be a little dicey. You never quite know for sure if the west side of San Juan Island is going to feel like 90 degrees or 9, but the gamble paid off and it ended up being an absolutely beautiful weekend.
We dropped a few orders off from our shop and went to visit our friends at Western Prince Whale Watching. They happened to have some last minute space on one of their tours so we jumped on the opportunity to get out on the Salish Sea with one of our very favorite whale watching captains, Bethany. She’s an insanely knowledgeable captain and naturalist that’s called the San Juan Islands home for her whole life and has worked with and around the whales for years so it’s always a dream to get on the water with her.
As we left Friday Harbor and headed east, traveling back towards the mainland, we crossed paths with a couple of Steller sea lions and Brandt’s cormorants resting on a channel marker with a perfect view of Komo Kulshan.
We hauled over to Samish Bay where there had been reports of the T419s, a fascinating trio of orcas that had been intriguing all of us for a couple of months.
(Information about the T419s from our Bigg’s Killer Whale Guide)
As we got into Samish Bay we spotted them from a distance and slowly approached. They were being a little bit sneaky, staying underwater for 4-5 minutes at a time, but were making some directional changes that we thought might lead to some more active moments, but in the end they decided to continue traveling.
T420
We got a few great looks at the T419s and then let them carry on with their day. There were other reports that the T123s were spotted on the way back towards Friday Harbor, so we kept an eye out for them as we made our way back west. As dependable as ever, suddenly Stanley’s giant dorsal fin emerged from the sea and we got to hang out with this familiar Salish Sea family for a couple of surfacings before they headed out of sight and we continued our journey back to San Juan Island.
T123/Sidney + T123A/Stanley
T123A/Stanley
T123A/Stanley’s wavy dorsal fin
(Information about the T123s from our Bigg’s Killer Whale Guide)
Bonaparte’s Gulls
