With another spring day of unpredictable weather we departed the dock with hopes of seeing Orcas again. As we headed north, the clouds gave way to blue sky and sunshine. Before long we came across a group of Steller Sea Lions also known as northern sea lions swimming along side Spieden Island just north of San Juan Island.These Stellers are primarily adult and sub adult males that are making their annual springtime move north. Adult males can grow to an impressive 11 feet in length and up to 2200 pounds. We watched as they continued to surface and dive in a feeding behavior.
We continued along the south shore of Spieden Island observing a large number of Bald Eagles roosting in trees along the almost 3 long mile island. This time of year we not only see nesting pairs but a good number of juvenile eagles as well as non breeding adults that may eventually disperse to the north as well.
With no report of Orcas we continued west towards the eastern side of Vancouver Island to see what we could find. We traveled along side Mandarte Island which is a small protected island that is a nesting site for hundreds of birds specifically Pelagic cormorants and the larger Double crested cormorant. These are deep diving sea birds that will nest on undisturbed cliffsides. After crossing Haro strait it was time to start heading back to Friday Harbor.
Well the Orcas eluded us today but we had a wonderful day on the water seeing lots of wildlife that make up the incredible ecosystem of the Salish Sea.
-Naturalist Kevin