Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/13/2021 10:00am
Today was so amazing! Captain Brian, Captain Erick and I took off out of Friday Harbor and headed north towards the Canadian border.
As we approached Sandy point on Waldron Island, we saw an orca whale! On closer investigation we saw that he was a transient whale named T124C. He is a huge male with a six-foot-tall dorsal fin born in 1992. We watched as he gracefully travelled through the glassy waters.
The sea was incredibly calm as we admired his shimmery body swim through the waters. He was swimming so slowly that we presumed he was sleeping. Did you know that whales can sleep and swim at the same time??
Eventually, we let him continue cruising through the Salish Sea and headed down towards Speiden Island where we found two humpback whales! Then we noticed they were a mother and calf! The mom we identified as Divot! They slowly swam close to the northern shore of the island.
As they rounded the corner, we spotted a massive Steller Sea Lion lounging on the point! The massive male sat up as we passed, curiously eyeing our boat. It was so exciting to see a sea lion. Most of the other sea lions have already migrated up to Alaska for their mating season.
Then, we boated along the north side of Speiden Island and watched exotic Mouflon Sheep and Fallow Deer. We even spotted two bald eagles perched in a tree along the shoreline. What a lovely pair! They were most likely a mated pair who had a nest nearby.
Finally we headed back to the harbor.
What a fantastic day!