Casper and Other Family

I Failed to look Right.

Today as I left the harbor, I am sharing my usual introduction to the Whales of the Salish Sea thoughts. I already had a destination in mind and started north to meet up with the T65As and T77s. I usually turn my radios on and begin to plan out the day. However, this day I was talking with a couple of my guests and left the VHF and UHF radios off so we could hear each other. Later on I would learn of Casper and Other Family members we left behind.

About halfway to our destination, I take a look at new reports to zero in on where we are going. It is then that I notice the post of the T46B’s were outside Friday Harbor. Had I looked right as we left I could very well have seen them myself.

A couple of harbor pilots from Texas were on board today. I always enjoy being around fellow mariners especially those from towboat and shipping background. I do miss being at sea on the big boats but I cannot complain about where I am at today.

Orca Pods T65As and T77s

We were committed at that point, so we made our way in to view the T65As and the T77s. There is one big male in the group, T77B. He is 19 years old and has another year of growth by the numbers, but he is a big male with the 6′ tall dorsal fin. The whales were in two groups separated by a half-mile maybe. We viewed one group and then planned to shift over to the other group. They were trending south when we arrived, and after a bit, the two groups came together and flipped and started trending north.

WDFW Officers Much Appreciated by Whale Watch Vessels

WDFW, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife was on the water today helping maintain order and keeping the whales safer with their presence. In Haro Strait, a sailboat had crossed in front of the whales then reversed course and was bearing down in a direct line towards them. The sailboat captain appeared to do a complete change of action to get out of the way. From my vantage point it looked like he realized the vessel ahead of him and behind the whales was a cop, that being officer Ralph Downs with WDFW, and he scurried to get out of the whales path. I could be wrong but that is what it looked like.

Flattop Island History

After they joined together, boats from both groups were now together as well, so I opted to break off from them and head back to see the T46Bs. We stopped off at Flattop island that had eagles and mama seals with their pups. Flattop Island is known at one point in history for bombing practice during world war II. We left Flattop and started towards nearby Spieden Channel to meet up with Casper, T46B1B and the rest of his family.

Casper and Family

Casper is one year old but is not the youngest calf in the pod. T46B6 is the youngest at just a few months old. This young one is not Caspers sibling though, and it is his aunt or uncle (sex as yet not known).

On the second tour I thought we would see a humpback whale along with the T46Bs but the HB, Humpback, I planned to see had been lost in the days shuffle. The T65As and T77s had made their way north up toward Point Roberts and too far to include them in the viewing of the second tour. Most of the time would have been in traveling, not viewing.

That meant we had plenty of time to observe the T46Bs. No breaches or kills were taking place just some beautiful weather and a nice amount of surface time for us to enjoy.

When it was time to depart, we started off looking for other life. I stopped off at Turn Point Lighthouse so we could grab a couple of shots of it with Mount Baker in the background. Then I began scanning Boundary Pass for a Humpback as I made my way to John’s Pass.

Spieden Island Circle of Life

We found ourselves at Spieden Island seeing some of the exotic animals. A young Mouflon Ram was dead on the hillside, and Bald Eagles were feasting on the carcass. Crows and Vultures were close by waiting for their turn at the feast. One eagle that had been eating away at it flew down to the shoreline. I zoomed in for a couple of shots and now on my computer see he or she has a severely injured beak. Not quite sure how that would happen. I am also not sure how the ram would have died.

There are no predators on the island. One thought was maybe the young ram was intruding on the older rams ewes, but it is the wrong season for this to have happened. Perhaps it was just disease of some kind. At any rate, the carcass was feeding a whole bunch of Bald Eagles, Vultures, and Crows. A pretty good way to end the day viewing Casper and other family members then the Spieden activity.