This morning we picked up our charter group at Roche Harbor.  There were no reports yet of Orca locations, so we headed out to the west and south in Haro Strait.  Although we knew some whales had gone north early this morning, we just felt there had to be a few that decided against the trip up to the Fraser River, and so we decided to search for them in favorite foraging areas.  Our trip took us though some pretty big waves and exciting weather.  Then as the seas calmed down, we found ourselves searching with four other boats.  No one had seen a fin…..yet.  We were running out of places to look when fins appreared off shore!  What a great find….three adult males from L pod were cruising out on the bank with some very fast foraging moves.  It turned into a great morning, with easy viewing in calm water and very active whales.  On the way in we found a Steller sea lion on Whale Rocks and many Harbor seals!

In the afternoon we were able to return to the same area for more great looks at L Pod whales.  The “boys” were cruising north now along the shore….and then south….and then…north…a perfect example of what we call “The Westside Shuffle.”  Several salmon launced themselves out of the water…a strategy for survival?  Then a whole school of salmon, swimming so close to the surface that their backs were visible, passed by the boat.  Something underneath them?  Very clearly, lots of fish in the area.  That’s good news for the Southern Resident Orca whales!

It was great fun to get a good look at Tucker the whale research dog and his Handler.  Tucker specializes in detecting whale poop and he’s very good at it!   Here’s a photo of him wearing his new “Doggles” which help protect his eyes from UV rays on the water.

By the time we returned to the harbor, the sun was out and summer had returned!

~Nan