The last day of February was warm and sunny, the perfect conditions to be out on the water, so on the water I was! I had some data to work on, and as strange as it sounds, I work best when on a traveling boat.
We had encounters with two lovely gray whales. One was just south of Lopez Island, the other was close to Burrows Bay. Neither of these whales were identified on scene, but at least one of them has been seen recently from shore.
The harbor seals were absolutely adorable and the birds are starting to show off in their breeding plumage. We were heading in after what could only be considered a fabulous trip when something caught our naturalist, Sam’s eye. I turned to starboard just in time to see coal black fins surfacing in the turquoise water. We had ORCA!
It only took two surfacings to confirm the T099s . Holly and Barakat’s distinct fins were easily identifiable. Then I heard Sam say, “Tattertip!”.
So Bella’s sister and her family the T036Bs were also on scene. We spent about 30 minutes with these beautiful matrilines before heading back to port.
Thank you Sam, Carl and Tyson for a wonderful trip. It was great to see friends Jill, Bonnie, Donna and Michelle onboard.
-Cindi
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