M/V Sea Lion| Sunday, October 13th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria
What a full day we had today! With fall in full swing here on San Juan Island, it sure turned out to be the perfect fall day! The sunshine was out as we departed on our trip aboard M/V Sea Lion and we had already heard of a report of orcas in Rosario Strait!
We headed out of Friday Harbor and aimed towards that report. On our way we were lucky enough to see some Harbor porpoise swimming by us, these critters are usually fairly shy but we got some great looks at them. We then met up with the orcas that we heading north up Rosario Strait. We hung out with these families of Biggs Killer Whales for a nice chunk of time. We were able to ID these families as the T35As, T38As, and the T123s. It was so cool to see these three families hanging out together.
After we got some great looks at these individuals we peeled off and headed south. We were lucky enough to stumble upon some Dall’s Porpoise that were swimming in Rosario Strait, and we excitedly slowed down to watch them play. In contrast to Harbor porpoise, these Dall’s are much more playful, so it was quite enjoyable to get to watch these cute black and white little porpoise frolic. As we continued heading south we also saw some Steller sea lions and Harbor seals hanging out on Bird Rocks, and of course had to check these animals out as well!
Afterwards we decided to take the scenic route home, heading through Lopez Channel and Lopez Sound. This made for some gorgeous looks as we worked our way back to Friday Harbor. Along the way we enjoyed the views of the sunshine on the hillsides, making it the perfect fall trip.
Until Next Time,
Naturalist Alexandria