Sailing with 20+ orcas to Castle Rock

June 21, 2021 – Every trip is different depending on weather, tides, whale and wildlife sightings You never know what kind of adventure it’ll be that day when we leave the dock. Today we had a family of photographers on board ready to capture it all. We headed south with intentions of finding minke whales on Salmon Bank but instead got lucky with an epic orca day. Many families were making their way east from Eastern Bank including the T34’s, T37 with T37B’s, T36 with T36B’s, T49A’s including T49A2 (who is usually dispersed), T49C, and brothers T125A and T128. When we arrived we sailed slowly and watched them all file by in groups. It was a stunning scene with glassy seas and mountains all around. But, after they passed us, the groups split up and fanned out making it challenging to keep track of their whereabouts. At one point the T125A and T128 brothers did some impressive tail slapping and others nearby were spy hopping and breaching. We noticed a couple others swimming backwards as if to indicate they were sharing a meal. Perhaps that was the reason for all the sudden excitement. Eventually, all the whales were trending east towards Iceberg Pt on Lopez Island. We made it to Castle Rock, a favorite location of ours, to watch all the orcas pass before turning to head back to Port. The strong current was moving quickly and the orcas breached and double breached as they rounded the bottom of Lopez continuing east. Quite a finale for us all. Another epic adventure in the books.