A distant view of humpback "Scratchy" and a trio of orcas T77C, T77D and T49A2

July 21, 2021 – Full day sail circumnavigating San Juan Island. We cast off and headed south hoping to sail with a humpback whale who was headed NE towards Cattle Pass. The whale stopped traveling and was milling on Salmon Bank for a bit as we were getting close to Cattle Pass. However, the whale began traveling again this time WNW in some very sloppy seas. The whale was identified as MMY0079 “Scratchy”. We got a decent first pass but on subsequent surfacings the whale changed to a westerly course to Hein Bank and we decided sea conditions weren’t favorable to keep up with it. Instead we headed north along the west side of San Juan Island following reports of three orcas who were milling near Halibut Island for many hours on the Canadian side of the border. After we passed Lime Kiln Lighthouse the orcas crossed the border to the US side aiming at Henry Island. We got lucky to get there in time to see them – T77C with sibling T77D with T49A2 before they crossed back into Canada. Following the whale encounter we headed to one of our favorite places called New Channel along the north side of Spieden Island. We came down San Juan Channel on the west side of Jones Island and through the Wasp Islands before returning to Friday Harbor.