Today we left Friday Harbor with a report of a humpback near East Point. On our way to the humpback whale we spotted a Stellar sea lion feeding in San Juan Channel. We then headed through President channel towards the humpback which was slowly heading North towards Vancouver. We got a little North of East Point, located in the Strait of Georgia, when we came across the humpback whale. The whale we were watching was the female known as "Big Mama", a whale that frequents these waters during the early summer season. We watched her sporadically surfacing to breath while traveling slowly North. Humpback whales can hold their breath for up to 45 minutes but generally surface every 5-17 minutes. We were also lucky enough to see some surface behavior including a cartwheel and a few lunges! We then started to head back towards Friday Harbor. On our way we saw some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks soaking up the wonderful sunshine we had today. We also saw a bald eagle on one of the rock islands and got to see it take off in flight. We had a wonderful day out on the water today enjoying the wildlife of the San Juan Islands.
Naturalist Rachel
M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris