Everything wild and blue

Blue was the name of the day as a broad blue sky and vast blue ocean stretched for miles. It was a scorcher with literally no wind, therefore we were grateful for the canopy above us on MV Seasmoke.

We were eager to push away from the dock this afternoon after a call came over the radio reporting Northern Resident Orcas were inbound. By the time we reached their location, they had entered into Blackfish Sound and cruising the shores along Swanson Island.

A23, A 25 and I15 were the whales we observed today and at one time the families had bunched together in their matriarchy pods. As the Orcas travelled, they surfaced so close together it looked as though they were literally touching. Due to the calmest of seas, when the males surfaced with their 6 foot dorsal fins breaking mirrored water, their fin rose and rose and rose. And for us sitting nice and close at ocean level, it really gave us the perspective of how tall the dorsal fin actually is. The black colouration was a break from the blue and their stunning white eye patch added to the contrast of colour. They truly are magnificent creatures and how lucky we were to see 25 to 30 Orcas during our afternoon.

Dall’s porpoises were seen by the many today, again thanks to the ‘flat like a plate’ sea. It is always entertaining to see Stellar sea lions swimming gregariously by us as they too were curious as we silently drifted by.  

We had a wonderful view of two Humpbacks today which we enjoyed tremendously. They are at least double the size of the Orca and over three times as heavy. It was disturbing to hear radio chatter of a Humpback being sighted with fishing gear trailing with it. Their comeback to this region in the last 15 years has been a wonderful thing, but with that comes hardship for them. The oceans they travel and forage for food is unfortunately littered with obsolete fishing gear which they can easily get entangled by.

The grand finale of our day was a wonderful sighting of a single Sea Otter. It looked at us inquisitively as we enjoyed it. How hopeful we remain, that these regular sightings so far this season is a good indication that they are calling this place their home.