Triple header - minke, humpback and orcas

August 10, 2017 – Today was one of those days where we really wanted to go for it – and so we did. First up – Pit stop in the raging current in Cattle Pass to check out two bald eagles on Deadman’s Island before continuing on to see the sea lions and seals hauled out at Whale Rocks. Sailing around Salmon Bank we found a minke whale – the same one we’ve seen recently (8/4 and 8/7) with a tiny nick on the leading edge of the dorsal fin. There was a report of a humpback northwest of us 4 miles away heading our direction so we changed course to meet him/her. The humpback was surfacing regularly but making very slow progress as it appeared to be resting. No deep dives or showing off it’s tail flukes. But best of all was a report of transient killer whales (T10’s and T60’s) about 8 miles south of us traveling toward Smith Island. Our passengers really wanted to see the orcas, so we went for it. We made it just in time as the orcas decided to stop for hunting deep in the shallows (some areas show 6 ft deep on the chart) for seals hauled out on the sand bar. Incredible to watch them in action. It was our first time seeing this island up close – so many huge kelp beds. We also saw about 4-6 tufted puffins… Sadly though, we did not see T10B and he appears to be missing. He was a very big male with a huge, unmistakable dorsal fin. T10B – We won’t forget you!!