Piper | Saturday, June 8, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM
Captain Gabe and I were on the Sea Lion today with some awesome folks and there was a report of Bigg’s killer whales just up the channel from us! We left the docks and headed north, arriving with the whales shortly after beginning the tour. We were seeing the T49A’s, a group of five mammal-eating orcas which are made up of mom and her four kiddos, ranging from 18 to just over one year old! The orcas were travelling pretty quickly across San Juan Channel at first but then they slowed down and began surfacing in different locations around the channel. We watched these impressive orcas swimming all around and after a while we headed off to check out other wildlife!
We spotted some harbor seals resting on White Rock before motoring over to John’s Pass and through the Cactus Islands, where we spotted a bald eagle nest and more harbor seals! We moved along the north side of Spieden Island and around its western tip before slowly making our way along the southern side, spotting countless bald eagles in the trees, on the rocks, and even soaring above us! We also looked down into the water and saw a ton of jellies floating around!
We made our way down San Juan Channel and back into the marina for a beautiful evening in Friday Harbor.