OnBoard Tours Whales

August 17, 2011 Wednesday

A sunny yet windy summer day! The Strait of Juan de Fuca bumpy this afternoon, (when I was a child crossing the strait, I called it the ‘strait of I wanna puka’!). A fairly strong flooding tide and wind stirred up choppy water. The passengers, a few seasick, a few wet from catching a rogue wave out on the bow, were great adventurers, rewarded seeing L-Podders west of Salmon Bank from about 3:20pm to 4pm. The Orcas were spread out in small groups, with a group of 3 most visible to us, seeming to mill about, many direction changes hunting for salmon in the rock and roll conditions. The 3 whales dove about 400 yards away from us, then several minutes later surfaced by our port side! L-53 Lulu, L-95 Nigel, and L-85 Mystery all swam under the boat! Interesting that all these orphans, (34, 16, and 20 years old), were traveling together.

L-53 Lulu

L-95 Nigel

L-85 Mystery