[Sunday – 3/25/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]
On Sunday here in the islands Mike, Sarah, and I took a great group of folks out to see what we could find in the cool waters of the Salish Sea. We started north through San Juan Channel and towards the outer islands of this little archipelago. We squeezed in between Jones and Orcas Island and took a quick stop to take a peek at some Harbor Porpoises. These are the most common and also the smallest cetaceans (whales) in the Salish Sea, but they are also the shyest due to being quite small and lower on the food chain. We got a few good looks at these sleek, small whales but they were pretty shy, so they soon started going on longer dives farther away from us. We next headed further north through Presidents Channel in between Orcas and Waldron Islands and pointed towards Sucia Island. Sucia Island and the surrounding islands are referred to as the outer islands and many are state parks! We cruised by their tall sandstone cliffs and our next stop was the southern point of Sucia Island. Here there is a fairly mixed colony of Steller Sea Lions. These behemoths are always so exciting to watch as they try to waddle their huge blubbery bodies around the rocks they just made very slippery. They spend their winters in several locations around the islands and soon they will head north to Alaska to breed. We watched their posturing and listened to their growling for a while and marveled at how these Fiat-sized animals haul themselves up on shore.
Next, we headed further south and saw a group of sea lions spinning and playing in the calm waters right next to Matia Island. Steller Sea Lions in the water are a stark contrast to the same ones on land. In the water these giants are graceful and totally in their element and it was grand watching them spin through the emerald green waters of the Salish Sea. After leaving these guys we continued south and squeezed in between Barnes and Clark Islands and passed a bunch of Harbor Seals as well as a large Bald Eagle. We soon passed Point Lawrence on Orcas Island and saw the massive rip that is drawn from this point as the tide passes it. It looked like it extended for at least half a mile and all of the birds were right there trying to catch the fish that came to the surface to hunt the churned-up plankton. We continued on south through Rosario Strait and started heading back through Thatcher Pass and through the interisland route back to home – Friday Harbor. What another super day of wildlife!
Until next time folks,
Naturalist Erick