Whale Watching Report

Our day started off with a California sea lion hauled out on a channel marker and some harbor porpoise in Rosario Strait. We did a slow down through the south end of Lopez Island and Swirl Rocks where we encountered a black oystercatcher harassing a mature bald eagle! There was also some harbor seals swimming in the water. As we prepared to speed up, another bald eagle flew right over our boat! We continued north up the west side of San Juan Island. When we got to Stuart Island, we found two humpbacks swimming along the shoreline! They appeared to be in a resting mode. It was amazing to see them this early in the year. Usually, we see them more in the fall. It was such a treat! We spent some time hanging out with them and right before we had to leave, one of the whales fluked for us! It was awesome to see that huge tail come out of the water! Researchers are saying that it is a mother and a calf, although they have yet to identify the mother. As we bid goodbye to our humpbacks, we made our way down to Spieden Island, also known as Safari Island, where we got to see fallow deer, sika deer and mouflon sheep. We got some great looks at these exotic animals as we passed by the shore. We went through Wasp Pass where we found an osprey nest and one of the osprey was flying right over it! It was a beautiful trip on the way back through the inner islands and we got to catch up with our lazy sea lion again on the way back through Guemes Channel. What a great afternoon full of wildlife!