Stellar Sea Lions
Today was a great trip. While we didn’t have any reports of any whales within our range we still had a great time on the water! We all boarded M/V Sea Lion knowing that we didn’t have any firm reports of whales so we decided to hear north up San Juan Channel. We continued up past Pender and Saturna Island- both on the northern side of Boundary Pass. Boundary Pass is part of the border that separates the United States from Canada which meant that on this trip we were able to say we spend a lot of time in Canada! The fact we got to spend so much of our trip in Canada was super exciting because we had quite a lot of people on our trip who had never been to Canada before and we are always happy to help make first time Canada Trips a reality!
We got some great views of Eagles throughout the trip, it seemed like we had a parade of eagles at one point. We also got some great looks at our Harbor Seal population. We are at carrying capacity with our Harbor Seal population which means this area can’t hold any more of these critters. I like to joke that these harbor seals that are hauled out on their rocks are like bowls of M&M’s sprinkled thoughout the islands. Especially for Biggs Killer whales- our marine mammal eating ecotype of orca.
As we were beginning to head south we swung past Speiden Island so that we could get some great looks at the deer and sheep that live on the island. All of these animals are non native to the island and were brought there when a group of bothers got together in the 1970s and attempted to start a wild game farm on the island. Though the business is no longer around, these exotic animals are still alive and well on the island. We were excited to get so many great looks at the baby deer and sheep that had just been born this Spring.
On our way back we also got some incredible looks at a few Steller Sea Lions hanging out in the water off Green Point. One big male even climbed onto the rocks and seemed to pose for us! This was a true highlight of the trip!
It was a great group of people onboard today- everyone was so kind and awesome to talk to! Definitely had a great day!
Until Next Time,
Naturalist Alexandria