Exotic Orcas visit the Salish Sea

Today we went searching for a group of Orca that were spotted by a reliable source early on.

The report was three hours old though by the time myself and two other boats were searching. Others came out an hour later and eventually of the boats did happen upon them, not far from the original sighting.

They were a mish mash of exotics that we do not normally see here in the Salish Sea. We had T117B, T172, T34B, T30B, T30B1, and one other unidentified.

A beatiful but chilly day on the water. This pod was very “shy” today, unpredictable in their direction and next surfacing. At one point, they surfaced too close. We stayed shutdown and enjoyed their presence. I could not fit them all in the frame of my 500 prime lens. Usually I crop pretty heavily but today, some of the shots were just what they were with a 500mm prime.

Such a beautiful day. On the way idling into the harbor there was a Pacific Loon almost but not quite into full breeding plumage.