Laura C. | 6-28-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am
This afternoon was an awesome day to spend on the water! Captain Gabe drove M/V Kestrel north and stopped along Spieden Island to see some cool wildlife, including bald eagles and harbor seals! We continued onward and were so excited to find TWO Bigg’s killer whale families traveling together near Saturna Island! Passengers watched this active group gathering at the surface with calves splashing around and coming fully out of the water! The families were quickly recognized as the T65As and T36Bs! The male in the T65A family seemed massive in comparison to his younger calf sibling! As they traveled at a fast pace along the rocky edges of Saturna passengers appreciated a beautiful backdrop of the hills and treetops. We were able to see these whales exhibit their energy and strength with plenty of tail breaches, head breaches and spyhops! After watching these two families we explored the area for more wildlife.
Our vessel approached a couple of small rocky islands nearby and we were pleasantly surprised to find an adult bald eagle with two juveniles! We had awesome looks at these majestic birds as each one took off from the ground and swooped right above our vessel! We stared at these individuals in awe and we could see their speckled dark feathers with some white areas on the underside of their wings. Then we noticed an abundance of harbor seals basking on the rocks a little passed our eagle sightings! They looked adorable and seemed quite content hanging out together. As we headed in the direction of Friday Harbor, we passed Spieden Island from the other side we found more seals and eagles! They were everywhere today! And there were more pelagic birds seen throughout our trip which was great to see, including pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, and pelagic cormorants! It was a beautiful day out on the water and such a fun tour!