Today the M/V Sea Lion continued its whale-viewing streak into April with two species of cetaceans! April has been good to us in terms of weather and wildlife. We left the dock under sunny skies and with great expectations!
Captain Mike, Naturalist Rachel and I left Friday Harbor and almost immediately we were lucky enough to encounter a gray whale! Gray whales are unusual visitors for us here in the San Juan Islands. This was actually only the third or fourth gray whale I have seen in four years out on the water. Gray whales feed in silty-bottomed, shallow (60-80 feet) water. These unique whales are the only species of mysticete that are bottom feeders. In Puget Sound, grays are after ghost shrimp that live in the sandy, mucky sea floor. In general our waters up here in the Islands are a bit too deep and a bit too rocky to create these perfect feeding conditions.
We left the gray whale after about 45 minutes of viewing and headed north into the Canadian Gulf Islands. Mike masterfully steered the M/V Sea Lion through Georgonson Pass and out into the Strait of Georgia. As we scanned the wide open waterway we were lucky enough to find two families of Transient killer whales identified as the T036As and the T099s. We watched the two mothers and their offspring as they made two kills and started socializing! It is always so fun to see these whales feeding and celebrating these hunts, especially when there are juveniles in these groups. Every kill is a potential learning experience for these young whales.
After leaving the whales in the Strait of Georgia, we started to head back towards Friday Harbor. We had the opportunity to see some Steller’s sea lions and bald eagles on our way home. Overall, an amazing spring day on the water!
