On Sunday, May 29th we ventured out on two trips to accommodate all of our holiday weekend whale watchers. And successful we were.
Headed northbound, we stopped by Spieden island to see the non-native Mouflon sheep and Sika and Fallow deer. Further on, we saw several harbor seals and Stellar sea lions hauled out on the rocks warming up in the wonderful San Juan sunshine. Off of bird rock, we saw a young bald eagle (no white-feathered head yet) perched two feet out of the water, either just finishing his fishing and drying off or waiting to strike something tasty. On bird rock, we saw hundreds of cormorants sitting upon nests and rock ledges.
Out into the shipping lane known as Haro straight off the northwest side of San Juan Island, we discovered animals of a different caliber. Spread out in four smaller groups we found about eleven animals identified as part of the resident group L-pod! These animals were traveling south at a quick clip and as we watched them, we glanced several fins with one belonging to a small calf. This was my first viewing of L-pod for this season! As the seas got a little choppier and we began to run out of time, we made our turn back to Friday Harbor. Along the way, we traveled through Mosquito Pass and saw the historic Roche harbor on the north side of the island.
Welcome back, L-pod!
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris