With little rays of sunshine the M/V Sea Lion departed from Friday Harbor once again and headed north in search of whales. On our way, we caught some good glimpses of steller sea lions and harbor porpoise! The stellers always do a good job of impressing everyone on board with their large bodies and large teeth that they readily show off while growling! We also saw plenty of their distant relatives, the harbor seal, which is about 1,800 lbs lighter than the stellers!
When we didn't find any Orca whales in Canada the Lion headed home, during which time we heard of a rare sighting! A gray whale in the San Juan Channel! We hardly ever, see whales in the Salish Sea around San Juan Island let alone in the Channel! I'm actually not sure if they have ever seen a gray whale in the San Juan Channel! This little whale was presumed to be last years calf and therefore, was just exploring new and unfamiliar territory! Lucky for him, these waters provide a great feeding area for gray whales with lots of muddy bottoms for them to dig up anthropods and crustations!
It was a great day! And, my first time ever seeing a gray whale!!
Heather, Naturalist, M/V Sea Lion
San Juan Safaris