K and L-Pod Orca Whales
"The inner islands beckoned the Island Explorer 3 into its magical waters as we ventured toward Canadian waters where the Southern Resident Orcas were. Along the way our guests enjoyed Harbor Seals swimming and lounging atop small islands, Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinoceros Auklets, a Great Blue Heron fishing on the shoreline, a fast moving Belted Kingfisher, Harbor Porpoise and a dozen Bald Eagles perched atop Flattop Island! Entering in Haro Strait we saw in the distance Orcas spread out over miles of flat calm water and under a blue sky! The first subpod we visited with was Skagit (K13), Spock (K20), K38, Scoter (K25), Deadhead (K27) and Cali (K34). We watched this close knit family group swimming in close proximity to one another and as we watched the sounds of their exhalations carried across the water. At one point we seemed to be surrounded by whales, for they could be seen on either side of the boat. Captain Carl joyously called for "whale ping-pong" as guests whipped their heads back and forth between various groups! There was one subpod that had a very breach happy youngster who must have breached a dozen times during our visit. Our last visit was with Opus (K16), Sonata (K35) and Gaia (L78)." - Naturalist Kate Janes
