Today was one of those rare perfect days to be a wildlife watcher. The sun was shining and the water glassy as we made our way south from Friday Harbor. Our first stop was at whale rocks where there were the most wildlife species I’ve ever seen at one time. There were cormorants, gulls, harbor seals in and out of the water, and two animals we do not see often: a brown pelican and not one, but two giant Steller’s sea lions, one of which was in the water and came up right behind our stern.
We then headed to the west side of San Juan Island and found killer whales spread out and traveling towards cattle point. And as we were watching them, we were surprised by a few salmon leaped out of the water! It was a very unusual site. We stayed with the killer whales for a while longer, watching one tail slapping, and two pass us on either side of the boat. Then we made our way to salmon bank in search of minke whales. As soon as we turned off the engines, we spotted one. It came up twice before disappearing, so we slowly made our way around that area and had two more minke sightings before we headed back to town. But the trip was far from over; on our way back we spotted some harbor porpoises playing in a rip and relaxed while soaking up some of the warm sun. Perfect Day!
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris