M/V Sea Lion had yet another amazing early-season trip on May 17th, highlighted by numerous wildlife species. Leaving the dock we headed north from Friday Harbor and were treated to almost immediate viewing of bald eagle and other local bird species. As we move closer and closer to summer the diversity of seabirds is starting to shift away from our dipping and diving ducks, towards more of our murre and murrelet populations. Just one of the many seasonal changes we see in the ecosystem.
As we continued north through San Juan Channel, up into Cowlitz Bay we found some Pacific harbor seals hauled out on rocks and stopped to admire the small pinnipeds! These small seals are some of the most numerous marine mammals in the Salish Sea, numbering at an estimated population of 300,000. We were also fortunate to encounter some larger pinnipeds, Steller’s sea lions, hauled out on Boiling Reef near East Point on Saturna Island. These massive sea lions can grow to over twelve feet long and weigh over 2,400 pounds.
We continued to push north out into the middle of the Strait of Georgia towards Alden Bank where we encountered two humpbacks, identified as BCX01057 “Divot” and BCZ0298 “Split Fin,” who were traveling and feeding together. We got some awesome looks at the whales as they fluked up many times in our vicinity. This behavior is important for researchers because the undersides of tail flukes are all unique to individual whales, acting like a fingerprint for each whale. Divot and Split Fin have very different flukes, totally black and almost totally white respectively. We can also use the whales’ dorsal fins as identifying features, as Split Fin’s nickname suggests, she has a huge nick out of her dorsal fin. Can you see the difference between the two whales in the photos below?
On our way back home we got a chance to drive past Spieden Island to check out the exotic animals, as well as the bald eagles that call the island home. That pass by rounded out another spectacular day in the Salish Sea.
