Today we were with the T123s & Humpbacks in Georgia Strait on a very beautiful day with calm waters. It is nice to once again see our beautiful Salish Sea without all the smoke.
Every once in awhile the Orcas decide to interact. After all, they are the largest of the Dolphin species and are playful curious creatures. They mess with birds, other animals and it only makes sense they would play with boats whey they want to. I have seen them in videos playing in the wake of boats in other parts of the country, imagine that, a dolphin playing in the wake of a boat. I have seen videos of them playing around kayakers, paddle boarders, swimmers etc. It is what they do. Today we were sitting still shut down watching a pod of four Orcas making a snack out of a Porpoise. They were underwater then all of a sudden popped up and heading towards me.
They were already within the 200-yard clearance we must maintain and the law says we must shutdown or stay shut down when they are within that distance. The calf swam upside down with its belly up and went underneath us while I stepped up to the bow to take a few shots of one underwater passing by me. A moment that is rare and cherished for sure. I have spoken with WDFW about this behavior before and the advice is to stay shut down and enjoy the moment. The whales don’t know the rules we humans have to live by and they do what they want.
I stopped by to view the Steller Sea Lions and then Harbor Seals. I loved the calico coloring of this harbor seal and noticed if you look in his eye you can see the reflection of my boat.
The afternoon tour took us all the way up to Pt. Roberts with a background view of the city of Vancouver, to view the T123s again, then we dropped down and viewed a pair of Humpback Whales but I was not able to get any fluke shots to identify who they were.
“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”
Jacques Cousteau
Check out some of my other photoblog pages at Whale Tales.
Follow us on Facebook.
Follow us on Instagram.
