Sarah | 10/26/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm
On a stunning Pacific Northwest October afternoon Captain Mike and I loaded up a group of wonderful people who were excited to enjoy the Salish Sea. Mike and I decided to head north towards Canadian waters, and to divide and conquer with other whale watch boats out on the water. The San Juan Island whale watch fleet spread out as we left Friday Harbor, communicating with everyone else via radio!
We wove our way through the islands, including the outer islands, even cruising through the fingers of Sucia Island! On the north side of Sucia, we encountered some Steller’s sea lions hauled out on the rocks as well as some harbor seals as well. It was a great comparison between two of our more common pinnipeds in the San Juans. Steller’s sea lions are the largest species of sea lion in the world, maxing out at twelve feet long and 2,400 pounds, while harbor seals max out at five feet long and 200 pounds.
We decided to press towards Patos Island and then onward to East Point on Saturna Island. All of a sudden… POOF! A whale! We spotted a humpback whale working its way along the topological lines feeding in the tiderips. We got a couple of great looks at the whale before it took a dive and disappeared for a few minutes. The whale next surfaced just in front of our boat heading rapidly towards a group of birds feeding on a school of fish just at the surface. Next thing we knew, the birds all took off, and the whale lunged through the school of fish with her mouth wide-open. After taking the huge mouthful of food the humpback circled at the surface before taking another dive. It was an incredible encounter with a beautiful animal.