Reports from the Field

Dan called in from his camp site on Sucia Island last night and the tone of his voice revealed what he was about to say before the words left his lips. He and the Spilker family saw whales, Orca whales, 4 of them, while on a day trip around Patos Island. Apparently there was lots of breaching and cavorting going on. They actually had two opportunities to see this small group of transient Orcas. Once when they walked out to the Patos Island lighthouse (great views, whales or not), and then again after they got back into their kayaks. The second time they were lucky enough to have the whales near them along the entire northern coast of Patos! All of the breaching and playing around makes me think that they had just made a kill and were celebrating their full bellies. Transient Orcas are the mammal eating variety of killer whales that we have in this area. They are very hard to track and so this orca encounter was extra special! The group was reported to be the "T-18s", which includes one large male.

We're really happy that the Spilkers had such a great encounter, this is the second time that this local family has come out on a camping trip with us and their son is featured on the cover of our brochure this year. Thanks for coming back out with us guys!