It’s been a whale kind of day. The last time we saw whales we were also at Sucia Island.
Shane was the first to see the Orcas, getting a sneak attack on his paddleboard this morning. He was rounding Matia Island, Puffin Island, Puffin Island Reef, and Wiggins Reef. He was about to pass Rolfe Cove when a pod of Orcas were exiting right in front of him! He stopped and was able to grab some epic videos of his encounter. He said it was the best paddle of his life, seeing so much wildlife at once.
Shane texted me shortly after letting me know they were heading towards Sucia. Kelly and I had our binoculars on the lookout. We saw Shane crossing over from Matia, and after a while, saw water bursting from the blow holes of at least two whales off in the distance, to the right of Matia Island.
When Shane returned I was making pancakes and we were getting settled into our day. Then the orcas approached even closer! They were about 400 feet from our boat, which was anchored in Echo Bay. Wyatt shot a video, putting one of his favorite songs to it and uploading it to Youtube.
I burnt a couple of the pancakes while watching the whales in the distance. It wasn’t long before a pod of dinghies rushed over to see the orcas up close. It was an odd scene. Most of the people on the boats kept a respectful distance and stopped their motors. The whales were out there for at least 20 minutes, thrashing around in the water. Our assumption was that they were feasting on the seals we had seen the night before when coming into the bay. Seal pups too! They were so cute. After chatting with another boater in the area, our assumption was confirmed. It was seals and I guess there was plenty of blood in the water.
We learned from the Whale Museum at Friday Harbor that resident orcas don’t usually eat seals, preferring salmon. Their dorsal fins are also curved. These orcas had straight dorsal fins. Pretty fun to apply what we learned over the winter in our observations today.
Wyatt and Kelly went out to paddle and explore on the beach while I got lunch started. We had been to this beach with my mom a couple weeks ago. There is a larger mushroom rock you can see from our anchorage. The rocks are weathered and “honeycombed,” which makes for fun tidal pool opportunities for Kelly to explore.
Lunch featured recipes from the Vegan Keto cookbook I’ve used for a few years. The recipes are really simple and actually taste good. I made a cauliflower soup (thanks to rice cauliflower packets from Costco), tahini bagels, and these super ugly peanut butter bars.
The kids did not eat the peanut butter bars. They turned green thanks to the hemp protein powder I have. I love the protein powder, but it does not have the most appetizing look to it. I really liked the bars and was pleasantly surprised by the soup. I had never made it before.
After lunch we saw more whales off of Sucia. The orcas were near Ewing Island Reef. Again, dinghies showed up to see them closer, still at the legal distance, but again it’s just a weird sight. Shortly after the whales moved on, someone called for the Coast Guard on Channel 16. They were reporting a hostile group on a dinghy who were approaching the whales too closely. We thought the call was odd, the Coast Guard did not followup and the caller stopped her efforts.
When we went to shore to paddle, swim, and enjoy the sun and scenery I got a different story from one of the boaters of what really happened. People seem to be irritable today on the radio, calling out boats going too fast in the nearby bays too.
Kelly and Wyatt found some boys to explore tidal pools with and I listened to an audio book while trying to make my legs match the color of my feet. The northwest weather so far has tanned my face, feet, and hands.
Shane went to shore when his workday was over to play with the kids and I got to work dusting and shaking out the comforters outside. For dinner I made a taco seasoned jackfruit that was sweeter than spicy, hashbrowns, and a coleslaw mix. Shane also had the leftover rice mix from the night before too.
The kids played Sequence with Shane while listening to Lionel Richies’ All Night Long. I prepped my sprouts. I’m sprouting lentils in the trays and broccoli sprouts in my original jars. At the beginning of the year I started cleaning the broccoli seeds before soaking them using a drop of dish soap and some apple cider vinegar.
We were going to leave Sucia tonight to go back to Blaine, but it was too nice of a night to not be out here.