Early on the morning of September 9th, some friends and I headed out on the water to try to see a fin whale that has recently been hanging out in the area, which is super rare. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the water was calm. But as we headed South down the shoreline of San Juan Island, we entered a thick wall of fog off of Hannah Heights. Visibility was very limited and knowing there were probably orcas around, we stopped the boat off Pile Point and took a listen. There were blows all around us in the fog, some close and some off in the distance. We would later find out that it was probably a superpod, with everybody from J, K, and L pod in the area. All three pods had been inbound in the Strait of Juan De Fuca the day prior.
After awhile of listening to the orcas and getting a feel for their direction of travel (North), we continued very slowly South through the fog towards McArthur Bank. The bank is located off of Iceberg Point on Lopez Island and it was where the fin whale had been seen most recently. As we passed over Salmon Bank off the South end of San Juan Island, we saw a few Dall's porpoise! These black and white porpoise, which will often play and interact with boats, are not as common as they used to be in the area, so spotting them is very special.
Once we got to McArthur, we stopped the boat and listened for the fin whale's blow. Within seconds, I heard a large exhale behind us in the fog. I believe this was the fin whale! It breathed a few more times and then went on a deep dive. A few minutes later, we heard another blow off in the distance and we thought it was the fin whale again. So, we started slowly tracking the whale by its blows, without ever getting a visual on the whale through the dense fog. I then began suspecting that these blows we were following were from a minke whale and that the fin was now back behind us. The blows eventually led us to Hein Bank, where I then heard two different blows, one sounding like an orca. Soon, fog lifted and we spotted Ocean Sun L25 foraging by herself. My bet is that there were other members of the L12s around but they were just very spread out. A few minutes later we also spotted a minke whale, and this was likely the whale we tracked by sound from McArthur Bank.
After awhile of listening to the orcas and getting a feel for their direction of travel (North), we continued very slowly South through the fog towards McArthur Bank. The bank is located off of Iceberg Point on Lopez Island and it was where the fin whale had been seen most recently. As we passed over Salmon Bank off the South end of San Juan Island, we saw a few Dall's porpoise! These black and white porpoise, which will often play and interact with boats, are not as common as they used to be in the area, so spotting them is very special.
Once we got to McArthur, we stopped the boat and listened for the fin whale's blow. Within seconds, I heard a large exhale behind us in the fog. I believe this was the fin whale! It breathed a few more times and then went on a deep dive. A few minutes later, we heard another blow off in the distance and we thought it was the fin whale again. So, we started slowly tracking the whale by its blows, without ever getting a visual on the whale through the dense fog. I then began suspecting that these blows we were following were from a minke whale and that the fin was now back behind us. The blows eventually led us to Hein Bank, where I then heard two different blows, one sounding like an orca. Soon, fog lifted and we spotted Ocean Sun L25 foraging by herself. My bet is that there were other members of the L12s around but they were just very spread out. A few minutes later we also spotted a minke whale, and this was likely the whale we tracked by sound from McArthur Bank.
Ocean Sun L25, born around 1928.
With the fog pretty much gone, we headed back to McArthur Bank to see if we could find the fin whale again. We scanned for a bit and spotted a few harbor porpoise, as well as another minke whale. Suddenly off in the direction of Smith Island, we all heard a large blow and there off in the distance was the fin whale! The towering mist from it's exhale lingered in the air as its long back parted the water. The whale aimed towards Swirl Rock off of Lopez, traveled up the island's coast past Iceberg Point, and continued on towards Salmon bank. Once at Salmon Bank, it began feeding on huge bait balls that had formed. The seagulls, common murres, and rhinoceros aukelts would startle at times when the whale surfaced to breathe close to them. My estimate is that this fin whale was around 40-50 feet long, but these whales can grow to lengths of 80 feet!
The fin whale surfaces to breathe and scares all the birds.
We left the fin whale still near Salmon Bank and headed out to Hein Bank again to see if we could see any more Southern Resident orcas. While we didn't find orcas, we did spot a few more Dall's porpoise, as well as humpback whale that was headed West! We then aimed back for San Juan Island and found a few whale watching boats with almost all the L12s as they headed slowly North at Edwards Point towards Lime Kiln State Park. Of course, the L12s seem to have this rule that they rarely go further North than Lime Kiln State Park so they stopped, milled about off of Edwards Point, and then turned back South. As they milled, Matia L77 spy hopped and males Mega L41, Mystery L85, and Solstice L89 draped kelp over their tall dorsal fins. Once they had committed to going back South, the orcas got very active with tail slaps (at least Mega L41 and Solstice L89), inverted tail slaps (Solstice L89), cartwheels (Mystery L85), breaches (at least Solstice L89, maybe Mega L41 too), and more spy hops. Ocean Sun L25 slowly brought up the rear of the group and logged on and off between tail slaps and pectoral fin slaps.
Solstice L89 breaches. He was born in 1993.
Behind the L12s were the J17s, who had turned around too, but off of Lime Kiln. The rest of J, K, and L pod had headed North in the morning during the fog. The J17s were also active as they headed back South, mainly with breaches, cartwheels, and tail slaps. Interestingly, Calypso L94 and her two offspring, Cousteau L113, and Wingsong L121, were with the J17s and Cousteau L113 was the breacher. The J17s and L12s then began to fan out off of Hannah Heights and Pile Point. Some of the J17s foraged offshore, while Mega L41, Matia L77, Mystery L85, and Joy L119 formed their own resting line.
Cousteau L113 breaches right off Land Bank, a little South of Lime Kiln. She was born in 2009.
It was starting to get late so we began our journey back to the dock. It wasn't over yet though! We soon spotted a male orca off of Smugglers Cove! It was Wave Walker L88 foraging for Chinook/King salmon! Thinking that the L54s, the matriline Wave Walker L88 travels with, were with a boat back behind us off of Bellevue Point, we turned around and went to check. It turned out the boat was with another humpback whale! We stayed with the humpback for a few minutes before heading back to Wave Walker L88, who now had Keta L117 (from the L54 matriline) with him.
Humpback whale #2!
After a few minutes with Wave Walker L88 and Keta L117, we said our goodbyes and motored home. The next day, the J17s and L54s headed North past Stuart Island, while the rest of J pod, all of K pod, and the L4s, L26s, L43s, and L47s came South down Rosario. The L12s were also still around and hung out at San Juan Island. What an amazing day full of multiple types of cetaceans!! A fin whale, two minkes, two humpbacks, Southern Resident orcas, Dall's porpoise and harbor porpoise!!
Please do not use my photos without my permission. Just ask.
Please do not use my photos without my permission. Just ask.
