Well, the morning started out with no reports.  As noon came and went, we still had no reports of whales near the islands.  And as I drove in to town, I would scan as best I could along the coastline.  Hoping, just hoping to see a dorsal fin.  And as I passed the West Side Preserve, I caught a glimpse of something in the water–could it be?  It was!  Orcas showed up literally out of nowhere and were swimming near San Juan Island!

When we arrived in Haro Strait later in the day, the whales had rocketed up the coastline of San Juan and were fast approaching Stuart Island.  We took our time to find a good place to stop and watch whales, and before we knew it we were looking right at K25 Scoter.  He is a growing male still!  Soon he was disappearing in the distance only to be replaced by a group of J Pod whales porpoising towards our boat!  It was so cool to see this group of Js, as they were very active–porpoising and breaching.

For our last pass, we were set up just past the Turn Point Lighthouse.  The water was absolutely a sheet of glass, and we all stopped for a “Kodak Moment” of taking a picture of the lighthouse with Mt. Baker in the background.  And then our first surprise–J2 Granny, the 98 year-old matriarch of J Pod came behind the boat in a series of very slow surfacings.  It was as if she was enjoying the calm waters.  And then we on the other side of the boat came none other than the matriarch of K Pod, K11!  It was like having a procession of orca “royalty” coming by to pay us a visit.  The finale was having J14 and her family (J30, J37, J40, and J45) come by in a big rollicking group.

Turn Point Lighthouse with Mt. Baker in background

Along our trip home, we had porpoises, seals, and lots of the exotic game animals on Speiden were out in the late afternoon sun.  September is indeed a good month to be out on the water!