Mar 25 2019 – Today’s tour was spent in US waters with a pod of Bigg’s Transient Orca known as the T49A’s. Our Captain Mark headed east when he heard the news of the pod in the area. He found them milling and chilling in an area known as Salmon Bank, just off the south end of San Juan Island in Washington State. The water was so calm, Mark said it looked like glass. The group stayed with the Orca for over an hour as they watched them swim back and forth. There were lots of birds picking off the surface of the water so Mark was pretty sure they had made a kill and were now relaxing after a big feed.
On the way home they stopped at Seabird Lighthouse on the south end of Discovery Island to watch the 10 or 12 Steller Sea Lions that have made the rock their home for the winter. These huge male animals migrate down from Alaska to their “bachelor pad” that is Vancouver Island for the winter and spring months. Soon they will make the long journey north back to the breeding grounds where the females wait!