We had two trips aboard the Western Explorer, and you never know what to expect when you come to work.  We had some unseasonably strong winds blowing, and we had some early reports of whales, but we weren’t sure where to head.  So off we went in search of wildlife, and hoped that the whales would head up island to calmer waters.  And soon we were passing through Speiden Channel and fortunately for us, the whales decided to head in that same direction, and we found a nice group of whales just north of Battleship Island.  Even from 1/2 mile away, we were able to pick out J1 Ruffles.  Our passengers were amazed that I could ID a whale from that far away–well, until I told them how I did it.  That dorsal fin is mighty distinctive.  And soon we were close enough that they could see his wavy fin, along with Granny J2’s nicked dorsal fin.  Following behind J1 & J2 were about 6-8 more individuals, and we were privileged enough to see several breaches, tail lobs, and a spyhop.  We had a passenger on board who had never ever been on a boat before, and while she was scared at first, by the end of the trip she was smiling and told me “I’m definitely coming back to do this again!”  Ah the magic of orcas.

Our afternoon trip had us in a quandry as we had two groups of whales within our reach.  One quite far away but in calm water, or a close group in choppier water.  So we decided to let the whales make the decision for us.  We decided to go to Flattop Island first and view some bald eagles.  It was amazing–there must have been 8 eagles competing for a carcass right on the waterline.  One would swoop in and chase the others off, only to be chased off himself.  We watched for awhile and then decided to head out to see the whales.  And wouldn’t you know it, the whales made the decision for us and were right between Kellett Bluff and Stuart Island, in fairly calm waters.

It was amazing.  We had the L32s and L12s foraging in the currents.  At one time we had 4 whales tail-lobbing at the same time.  Lots of back and forth directional changes.  And even better, the sun was shining and the waters were fairly calm.  But best of all, it was like we were having our own private wildlife experience as we were the only boat with this group.  I think in the hour we were on-scene, the whales moved less than 1/2 mile total.  We saw L85, L79, L41, L12, L25 all working the current lines.  Several breaches, including one by L79 (I’m about 80% sure), spyhops, and tons of tail lobs.  Too soon it was time to head back to reality, and we were all happy and content to have shared some time with these amazing creatures.