Transients and Residents...

I'm talking about the whales, not the local human population.

It was another fine day on the water.  We had reports of transient Orcas moving up the west side of the island.  On my way to intercept them, there came a report of resident Orcas moving two miles in front of the transients.  That is unusual - they do not generally hang out in the same area.

By the time we got to the transients, they were exhibiting "just made a kill" behavior: pack type movements at the surface, followed by deep dives.  Something had a bad day... aka: lunch.

We viewed this for about a half hour, then moved north to where the residents had been reported.  This was J-Pod again, and they were being quite active...

The after effect of a nice, full breach...

Yeah, I missed the peak - that happens when you are driving the boat.  ;-)

It was a beautiful sunny day.  Cool enough on the water to need layers, but nice weather and nearly flat water (unusual for Haro Strait).

On the way back to Friday Harbor, we stopped to see a large group of harbor seals hiding out on a rock, from the transients.  Completed the trip again with some bald eagles.

If I were to describe a perfect day of whale watching, this would fill the bill.

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Party on the dock...

I got home from work about a half hour before Joan.  We had been invited to a dock party by some new neighbors.  Come to find out they aren't new in the marina, they moved from a different dock where they have been living aboard for the past three years.

Apparently, they know a lot of people here - the dock, and their boat, was packed.  We made our way to the flybridge on their boat and settled in.  It gave us the opportunity to meet a lot of people that we see daily on the docks.  It's a friendly liveaboard community here.

We have to get up early to get Joan off to work in the morning, so we were one of the early "party poopers."  ;-)  Maria and Charles (the new neighbors) said, "We'll make some noise tonight, then we'll be quiet again for a couple years."  It is a bit different from the parties on the transient docks.  ;-)  Yeah, by 9:30, this one was a wrap.