[Sarah M – 08/03/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 01:30pm & 05:30pm]
Yesterday the M/V Sea Lion had another pair of great trips in the Salish Sea. Even though we are still experiencing smoky conditions, the wildlife sightings have been off the charts amazing and unaffected by the atmospheric conditions.
01:30pm Afternoon Classic Whale Watch
Wildlife
On our afternoon trip we left Friday Harbor and headed south towards Cattle Pass, encountering harbor porpoise and harbor seals as we cruised. As we reached Whale Rocks at the south end of San Juan and Lopez Islands we found massive Steller’s sea lions hauled out on the rocks! These huge sea lions can reach twelve feet in length and well over 1,200 pounds in weight, making them the largest species of sea lion in the world.
Humpback Whales
Leaving the sea lions we headed north up the Westside of San Juan Island, past American Camp and South Beach to Eagle Point. There a trio of humpback whales was traveling north along the shoreline. The whales were tightly grouped and gave us awesome looks at their enormous flukes as they dove repeatedly. Usually humpback whales are fairly solitary, so to have three of them traveling together was a bit of an unusual sighting.
Orcas Approach
As we were watching the humpback whales they started trumpeting at the surface… a jet-black fin cut through the water heading south! Orcas! Members of the Southern Resident community of orcas were spread out and fishing around the humpbacks. These killer whales are salmon specialists, so they posed no threat to the humpbacks, but the large whales made their feelings known about the orcas' presence. This was only the second time in four years that I have seen Southern Residents and humpbacks in the same place, the last time being in August 2014. We had an awesome encounter with members of L pod, most notably a great look at L013 Lapis and her two-year-old calf L123 Lazuli.
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05:30pm Sunset Classic Whale Watch
On our evening whale watch we again left Friday Harbor and headed south. The water was glassy and we were just starting to see that evening glow that makes that time of night so special out on the water. Evening on the water is truly a photographer’s paradise.
WILDLIFE
We stopped to see the Steller’s sea lions out on Whale Rocks and the light was just magical illuminating the Cattle Point Lighthouse in the background. We shut the boat down and drifted, listening to the sea lions vocalizing on the shore. There were so many birds out and about: gulls, common murre, pigeon guillemots, and rhinoceros auklets. This time of year we start to see our fall diversity of birds coming back into the area, and it is super special to see the huge numbers of them gathering on baitballs and on the rocky outcroppings around our waterways.
ORCAS SPOTTED!
We continued south towards Iceberg point on Lopez Island. Soon we saw the tell tale signs of orcas nearby: jet-black, dagger-like dorsal fins cutting through the water and their nine to ten foot tall exhalations above the surface of the water. We again encountered members of L pod, most notably the L55 matriline led by matriarch L55 Nugget. The whales were in a tight group resting as we arrived, but as we watched the whales they began to wake up. We started to see some surface-active behavior from the whales as they began to wake up and spread out a bit. The whales started to tail lob back and forth between the small groups of whales. In addition to the L55s, we also got to see L92 Crewser, traveling with his probable aunt L90 Ballena as well as the related whales L72 Racer and her son L105 Fluke.
BALD EAGLES
After we left the whales we watched the sun as it crept towards the horizon and cruised towards Long Island where we found a beautiful adult bald eagle up in a tree next to a large nest. Bald eagles are monogamous, returning to the same nest each and every year. These nests can be six feet deep and weight over 2,000 pounds!
As we headed for home the setting sun cast a rosy glow over the water. What a beautiful day out on the water!
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