Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/20/19 | 12:00pm
What a lovely day in the San Juan Island!
Captain Sarah, Naturalist Piper and I headed out of Friday Harbor and up north through the San Juan Channel and towards the Canadian border.
We boated up President’s Channel and saw our first blow! It was a humpback whale! This huge animal swam in circles as it fed upon its tiny prey hidden in the murky depths of the Salish Sea. We followed as the whale showed us its 15-foot wide tail! What a beautiful sight to see. You could see a few barnacles and unique markings on the tail as well!
The kids on board were having a great time watching the massive creature in the water as we boated around the islands and admired the explosive breath. The sun was out, so the blubber shimmered in the light!
Its often humbling to watch such a powerful animal swimming so peacefully by the boat.
As we watched the whale, a Steller sea lion popped up! What an unexpected surprise! His nose pointed straight up to the sky as he swam along and then disappeared under the water as he searched the area for any fish to eat!
Eventually, we left the scene and found some harbor porpoises swimming about! What a crazy size difference between one of the largest cetaceans and one of the smallest! The tiny dorsal fins pierced the water before the shy animals hid beneath the surface.
Then, we boated over towards Flattop Island and spotted a beautiful bald eagle up in the trees! He was so elegant!
We also spotted dozens of harbor seals lounging along the shoreline! So fun to see the rock sausages trying to escape the cold water.
Finally, we made it back home, with big smiles on our faces!