We circumnavigated San Juan Island today, seeing wild life all the way around. We left Friday Harbor heading south and ran into a group of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. Shortly after, around Goose Island, there was another large group of seals foraging in the water!
Continuing around to the west side, we ran into some fog and slowed. We could make out some boats, so we stopped and started to look for whales. Through the fog we heard the distinctive “powoof” of a killer whale surfacing to breath. We then saw a single female pass by. The fog began to lift, and we traveled further north. Just south of Lime Kiln we encountered five more killer whales, one of which was J-34, “Doublestuf.”
After watching for a while we started moving toward the north end of San Juan Island. There were a few harbor porpoise that surfaced a few times in our wake just as we passed Spieden Island. By the time we made it back, the sun was shining and every one was relaxed after an amazing afternoon out in the Salish Sea.
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris