Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with the crew had quite a day today! Heading out Naturalists Piper, Captain Gabe, and I were so excited that the Southern Resident Orcas had not yet left our waters. There were reports received earlier that morning about a group of them spread out on the West side of the island so we were excited to go look at what pod this was. We boarded M/V Sea Lion with the biggest smiles on our face and genuine excitement to see the Residents!
After boarding the guests and familiarizing them with the different wildlife and pods out in the area, we got on the water right away and headed towards the West side of San Juan Island! On our way down, we spotted some harbor seals and a juvenile bald eagle on Deadman Island. Then we headed down to Whale Rocks to see if we could see some Steller sea lions still in our waters- and we did spot a smaller guy trying to get up on the rocks. As we exited Cattle Pass, we headed South East towards a massive eagle nest on Long Island where there was a juvenile bald eagle in it and a parent on a tree not too far. As we headed out into the Strait, we could see some bait balls up North. This area is known for Minke whales, so we stopped to see if we could spot one. A couple of minutes into searching, a minke surfaced feet from our boat, leaving us with the worst whale breath I had ever smelled. The smell was still lingering in the air when it surfaced again not too far off our bow, leaving us with some more of its perfume!
We were now headed towards the Resident Orcas and up the Strait. It didn’t take long for us to encounter K-pod near Salmon Banks. These guys were moving fast and staying close together. We identified them as the K12s! But this wasn’t all, not too far away from them were three dorsals coming up, within them, two very big bulls which gave them off as the K16s. My favorite whale, Cappuccino is in this group and is always a pleasure to see his perfect dorsal and saddle patch! I think I was more excited than the guests to see this guy.. We stayed with this group for a while, watching them group up and then switch directions to head back up the Strait, right where they had came from. Captain Mike decided to follow them up for some last looks and we were then graced with 3 breaches in a row before heading back. As we headed South to round the tip of San Juan once again, there was a huge steller sea lion hauled out on the Salmon Bank buoy! What a wildlife rich area these islands are!
Mariana, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris