T65A’s in Boundary Pass
Today’s highlight was the Bigg’s Orca T65A’s up in Boundary Pass. They were located just as we were leaving the harbor to start searching ourselves.
I have had this days tour in the works since last season with a professional photographer and his clients that he takes out on Photo Tours. We are very pleased that we are able to provide tours of our Salish Sea for Max Waugh and his clients.
When I have a professional out on the water with me I try to soak up every bit of advice I can to make my own photography skills better. If you are a photographer and want a professional to be your guide, I recommend you contact Max. He leads amazing intimate photo tours all over the world. Look him up and join him on a tour at https://www.maxwaugh.com/.
Gales in Juan de Fuca
The plan was for Orca and Tufted Puffin. Mother Nature was not cooperative today for the puffin. There were gales forecast in Juan de Fuca. We gave it a shot just in case the sea state was better than forecast. We are very fortunate here in the islands with the weather. If gales are forecast in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we can go north. If gales are forecast to the north in Strait of Georgia we can go south. It is not often that it is bad weather everywhere around us.
San Juan channel off of Griffin Bay was pretty rough, which was not surprising. We got down to Whale Rocks and saw about a dozen Stellar Sea Lions still hanging out. Most of them have already moved on spending the summer at sea.
I was able to get over to a point on Lopez Island where we have seen a pair of Tufted Puffin pretty regularly, but not today.
Harbor Porpoise Kill
Before this experience with the rough water, we had been up in Boundary Pass observing and photographing the T65A’s. It was flat calm around the Orca. The T65A’s are one of my favorite pods and loved seeing them. As we were arriving on the scene and getting our first looks, I noticed a Harbor Porpoise swimming out near them. T65A2 also noticed the little guy, and the hunt was on. He started pouncing on it until he caught it.
This hunt was somewhat anti-climatic compared to some other pursuits we have seen. We saw no blood or gory details of the meal they enjoyed among themselves. For kicks, I am going to include a shot of a Dall’s Porpoise kill from a few weeks ago. Another set of pics from another kill that NOAA scooped up. You will recognize the leftovers as guts, but specifically, they are lungs, stomach, and rib cage of a harbor porpoise.
Lighting Challenges
When we were approaching the T65A’s, I was positioning ourselves on the sunny side of the whales making for better lighting. Unfortunately, after the kill, they changed course and moved over on the opposite side, forcing us to point our lenses into the sun. During the repositioning, all we and the other boats could do was shut down and observe. They began playing around a bit. Now we are on the lee side of the sun, and all I could get were silhouette shots. Another factor that comes to me now, I broke my lens hood lock and keep forgetting to keep my lens out of the sun. I have a replacement lock that will be here any day to fix that problem.
I loved it anytime we are with whales but The Bigg’s Orca T65A’s again is one of my favorite pods.
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