Members on board Straitwatch recover the partial carcass of a Harbor Porpoise that had just been killed by the T30 group of Transient Orcas.
Lions Mane Jelly Fish.
For the third straight day Five Star was the first boat to make contact with Orcas! Our vessel Fastcat was out on a special charter with the American Birding Society and we headed out on Supercat for our regular 10am tour. Our Captains coordinated a search out west and came across both a Humpback Whale and then the T30 group of Transient Orcas:) This was an even more remarkable find as there was a heavy fog bank in the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We had a Birthday Girl on board whose wish was to see a Humpback Whale and she was delighted to see not one but two Humpbacks, plus the Orcas! Apart from the Cetaceans, we saw 4 different types of Pinnipeds at Race Rocks with sightings of Harbor Seals, Stellar and California Sealions and Northern Elephant Seals.
In the afternoon we headed out to see the Transient Orcas and Humpbacks again and headed south of Clover Point into the middle of the Strait. As we were approaching the position of the Orcas we could see a kill was in process and a large number of sea birds were picking off remains as they floated to the surface. We then heard from a research vessel that a portion of a Harbor Porpoise carcass could be seen floating in the water nearby so we went to investigate (please see pictures above). We then continued to observe the Orcas and shortly before leaving witnessed another kill, this time most likely a Harbor Seal.
Next we encountered two Humpback Whales, one a young juvenile probably just over a year old, whilst the other was a full grown adult.
With calm seas and beautiful sunny weather today was a perfect day for Whale Watching and proved again why September is a fantastic time of the year!
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