Helena
MV Kestrel
6/24/2022
10am
Another fabulously sunny day on MV Kestrel allowed for some crystal clear viewing of cetaceans, pinnipeds and shore birds here in the Salish Sea. We departed Friday Harbor and headed south towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Views of the Olympics off our bow and Mount Baker to our portside allowed for an unbelievable backdrop throughout our adventure today. First stop was Goose Rock where we viewed several double crested cormorants perched atop their tall stick nests. We passed Cattle Point Lighthouse on our way towards Minor Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It didn’t take long before we were immersed in a landscape of blows and black dorsal fins as we approached several different family pods of Bigg’s Killer Whales. Bigg’s Killer Whales are one of the two different kinds of ecotypes found here in the Salish Sea and are marine mammal eating orcas. While we were not able to identify all of the pods that were spread out around us, two families we successfully identified were the T065As and the T060s. After an exciting half hour with the Bigg’s ( and Mount Rainier towering in the background!), we headed back up towards the southern shore of Lopez Island, looping around Castle Island before heading back into the San Juan Channel. On our way back into the channel, we stopped to observe a pair of bald eagles perched on the tip of Long Island. The San Juan Islands hold the densest breeding population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states, a number we are very proud of given that this species was once considered critically endangered due to the significantly harmful effect the use of DDT in the 1960s and 1970s. We ended the adventure with a trip past Whale Rock where we observed nearly 30 Stellar Sea Lions warming up in the sun. As usual, these pinnipeds kept us entertained with their loud calls and thrashing at the water line. Each day on MV Kestrel seems to top that last, looking forward to more sunny days ahead!