The Orcas on Orcas Island

Clyde and I took a little trip up to the San Juan Islands in July.  It's been on my "I wanna go there" list for a few years so I was pretty excited when it finally worked out.  

As soon as we got on the ferry from Anacortes it felt like a vacation. 

We explored Orcas Island when we got off the ferry and drove up to Mt Constitution.  It was a windy, curvy, slightly car sick inducing road to the top but the view was just beautiful!  We were told it's rated as one of the top ten panoramic views in the country and you can see why.

 

We stayed over in Deer Harbor in a little cottage above the marina. 

 It was so scenic and peaceful.

 

But the highlight of the weekend was definitely the whale watching trip. 

It also was on my "I wanna do that" list.

 

It was pretty amazing.  I learned a whole lot about the orca whales.  Like the fact that they're really not a whale but are part of the dolphin family. 

 The naturalist on board identified the pods and the specific whales...."hey look, there is 77A!  Oh he's grown so much!" 

They were super active when we saw them.  These were Transient Whales that we saw as opposed to the Resident Whales.

 

 Transient whales....makes them sound like no good, trouble making vagrants.

They're the orca that feed on seals and porpoises while the resident whales feed on salmon.

 

They had just killed a porpoise (awww, those good for nothin', transient whales!)  before we got there and this eagle was making off with a lung (eewww!) according to our captain, and being harassed by a seagull.

 

We saw a harbor seal and her pup, obviously smart enough to be on the rocks and away from the orca to avoid being what's for dinner.

 

Back to the ocras.... they put on quite a show....jumping

 

and showing off a little

 

with big splashes.

 

Waving the tails...

 

I was pretty enthralled....took a TON of pics, really it was such a cool thing to see.

 

Meanwhile Clyde wasn't quite as enthusiastic....he really did like the whales too but was worn out after I had drug him up and down and around the island for two days.

 

It was a great weekend.  I highly recommend seeing the orca whales and Orcas Island too, it was just beautiful.  We'll definitely have to visit again. 

And besides all that, look what a cool taxi they have...definitely worth a visit.