Today’s trip we began by heading west through the San Juan and Shaw Channels. As we passed between Lopez Island and San Juan Island we stopped at a rock that was covered on one half with Steller Sea Lions and the other half with Harbor Seals. There was also a lone Bald Eagle present, overlooking the rock. The passengers were thrilled!
We then looped around San Juan to the west side and were able to catch up with four individuals from J-Pod. There was one large male, a female, and two calves. As we traveled with the group along the shoreline, just past East Point, they milled around, and the calves began breaching a few times here and there!
After about 15 minutes they changed direction and immediately gained speed heading north. We were forunate enought to travel with them for a few more miles and in that time, the large male even breached! It was a very moving experience and one could tellthat our guests really began to feel beside themselves.
We then continued on our way north and around to the other side of the island. Once we got to Spieden Island, we saw the two groups of ungulates that inhabit the island; Sika Deer and Mouflon Sheep.
Today we caught all the wildlife possible and the guests left the boat with some of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen!
Naturalist, Tara