Orcas T37A's on Partridge Bank plus Brown Pelican & Tufted Puffins at Smith Island

August 31, 2020 – We set sail to the South where pockets of blue sky showed between layers of cloud. Cutting in through Turn Island State Park drifting passed sleeping harbor seals and a bald eagle the views and sky-scapes opened before us. Current was flooding but we made good time to Cattle Pass by steering into Griffin Bay some. The back eddies helped us as we kept close to the shoreline checking out the kelp forests near Goose Island where many harbor seals haul out on the beach. Unfurling the headsail gave us a fun sail across to Kings Point whereupon we set a course out passed the seals and black oystercatchers of Deadman Island. And out to Whale Rocks where the Steller sea lions were roughhouse playing.

We were following reports of Biggs Orcas first spotted at Middle Bank and now at the North end of Hein Bank. It now looked like they were headed for Smith Island so we upped the RPMs on the iron jenny and set a course to meet them. Seas were glassy and we made reasonable speed occasionally adding the headsail with a constant bearing and slowly diminishing distance. The whales were moving almost the same speed as us and we were passing Eastern Bank towards Partridge Bank with Port Towensend approaching when we met the orcas.

At this point the Orcas engaged in hunting. There were many gulls, murres, auklets and others on the banks. Gulls flew in to where T37A1 with T37A3 and T37A4 were hunting. With breaches to the South of us we heard that the others were acrobatic with chasing common murres. Later we observed T37A with T37A4 and T37A5 hunting a harbor seal and eventually they all grouped up to share a meal. We also saw a humpback for one surfacing in the distance.

We returned by way of Smith Island spotting a brown pelican, about 7 tufted puffins and various other groups of seabirds. We came in to Iceberg Point on Lopez and inside Long Island finding a back eddy inside of Mummy Rocks. Sunset began as we cleared Sharks Reef and the Lopez shoreline was on fire with gorgeous golden light.