Monday, April 9 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon
Captain Mike and I got the Sea Lion off the docks today with a great little group of folks onboard and as we left Friday Harbor we made a plan to head south in search of orcas. Passing by Cattle Point Lighthouse we got a view of a colony of Steller’s sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks with a juvenile bald eagle perched atop! After getting a nice whiff of their stank we decided to check out Salmon Bank, an area south of San Juan Island known for its productivity, but on our way there we got a report of orcas east of Lopez Island!!
Captain Mike looped the boat around and we made our way to the report, passing under Lopez and checking out the glacial erratics on Iceberg Point. Glacial erratics are boulders which were carried by glaciers to locations far away from their origins and geologists can sample the composition of the rock and map prehistoric events!
The Sea Lion headed into Lopez Pass before rounding the corner and coming up on the location of the report of orcas! A couple other boats in the Pacific Whale Watch Association were floating in the area and they let us know that these orcas were taking long dives but they should be up to breathe any minute. We came to a stop and waited with bated breath to see where the orcas would appear. Koosh! They came up right at our twelve o’clock, one after the other! We were seeing a group of two ‘lone males’ which were travelling up and down the west side of Decatur Island together.
Just as we were about to head out these two orcas decided to make a move into the middle of Lopez Sound and as they did they passed right behind our boat, giving us an amazing view of these two giant animals. What a sight! We then carried on, circumnavigating Lopez Island before heading back across San Juan Channel and into Friday Harbor.