Written by Bethany
on Jun 03, 2023

Whale Report: May 22, 2023 – Action Packed San Juan Channel

Whale Report: May 22, 2023 – Action Packed San Juan Channel

May 22, 2023 – On this trip, it was the rare occasion where we did not have to venture further than 10 miles from Friday Harbor and we saw so much wildlife! We started off the trip with an encounter with a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales known as the T124As. There were three adult females with two calves and a younger whale. While the mom’s traveled together, the kids were off playing together! We saw them rolling and jumping on top of each other and tail slapping. Occasionally, they would check in with their moms and then go back to playing. After that, we continued down the channel to check out some steller sea lions and harbor seals on a reef. We did a bit of searching on Salmon Bank and spotted three Brown Pelicans flying by! These large birds are a rare sighting in the San Juan Islands so we were stoked! We then got word that a humpback was spotted further up San Juan Channel so off we went! It turned out to be BCZ0414 “Zephyr” and she was traveling right past the killer whales! We watched as she surfaced a few times and then did two nine-minute-long dives. Just as we were about to leave after the second dive, suddenly, she was airborne breaching! She did two huge breaches and then two more head lunges! She also did some pectoral fin slaps as well! Behaviors like that from humpbacks are rare and it was such a treat! Finally, as a final sighting on a jam-packed trip, we spotted a rare sea otter right outside of Friday Harbor! Incredible!

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram @Adventures.with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

Western Prince Wildlife Adventures – Instagram: @Westernprincewildlife – Facebook: Western Prince Whale Watching

Written by Bethany
on Jun 03, 2023

Whale Report: May 22, 2023 – Action Packed San Juan Channel

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