Wednesday, July 4th | M/V Sea Lion
After catching the Friday Harbor 4th of July parade, Captain Pete, naturalist Jordan and I were pumped to get out on the water and see what the day had in store! We boarded the M/V Sea Lion and heard a report of a humpback whale milling about near Lawson Reef on the southeast side of Lopez Island! We made our way south towards Cattle Pass where we found a large haul-out of harbor seals soaking in the sun before the clouds rolled in. Looking down from the rocks and into the currents we spotted a raft of juvenile Steller sea lions which appear to be sticking around for the summer, yet uninterested in trekking to Alaska to breed.
Juvenile bald eagles also dotted these rocks and we left them to go find a bald eagle nest on Long Island, in which we spotted two more juvies being carefully watched over by a dutiful parent in the next tree over. Bald eagles mate for life and build on the same nest every year. It’s amazing to watch their lives play out every season!
We continued along the southern end of Lopez until we reached the humpback whale! Just as we arrived on scene a report of orcas came over the radio! We stayed with the humpback for a few breaths before it took a deep dive, flashing its giant tail in the air and waving us goodbye as we headed towards the killer whales!
The orcas that had been found were the T37’s, a group of marine-mammal-eating Bigg’s killer whales that include grandma, T37, mom, T37A, and her offspring. We watched as the orcas traveled along through Lopez Sound, most likely searching for their next meal. When it was time to go we left the orcas and returned to Friday Harbor where our guests then made their way to different firework shows around the islands!
For the 5:30 sailing we headed right back to where we left the orcas on the first trip, meeting up with them near the Lopez ferry docks. The helpful orcas then slowly traveled west and escorted us directly back into the Friday Harbor marina! We spent a good two hours watching and listening to them breathe and swim. What a serene evening spent in the company of these majestic animals!