October 23, 2021

October 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Anacortes

Strong southeast winds were blowing as we began our journey
to search for wildlife. It may have been blustery, but it in no way detracted
from the stunning natural beauty of the Salish Sea ecosystem. Autumn foliage
added splashed of color to the treelined coasts, moody clouds swirled above us,
curtains of rain showering down in the distance as we made our way north in
search of calmer waters and whales. This brought us to the Peapods where we
found a likely-mated pair of bald eagles and a cluster a haul out of harbor
seals. As we passed between Barnes and Clark, we found several more pairs of
bald eagles and as we passed Ewing Island yet another pair was seen! It was at
Ewing that we slowed to visit with some sleepy Steller sea lions and a lone
harbor seal living its best “Little Mermaid” life on the quickly disappearing
Clements Reef. We continued our search north past Patos and Tumbo Islands, deep
into the Strait of Georgia, and south along the western coastline of Orcas
Island. Unfortunately, there were no whales to be found in the region today,
but it was not for lack of trying. None-the-less, the trip was beautiful and we
had fun visiting with some of the incredible diversity of Salish Sea species.
Just no whales. We look forward to seeing all of today’s guests back for
another shot with us in the future!

-Sam

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October 22, 2021

October 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

Anacortes

With a massive storm brewing off the coast and rains covering the Salish sea we headed out of Cap Sante marina. We made our first stop at Bird Rocks and checked out some Steller sea lions taking a nice snooze. We also found an adult bald eagle perched on the island. We headed out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and travelled west, searching the shallow banks as we went. As we crossed Hein Bank, a report of orcas came over the radio and we quickly switched directions. Near Smith Island, we joined the T99s and got to see quite a spectacular show. At first the pod was simply headed north, but shortly after getting on scene we watched them take out a harbor seal. One of the orcas even spy hopped with the seal in its mouth. Once the hunt was over, we headed over to Deception Pass where we found a great blue heron, a belted king fisher and an adult bald eagle before heading back out to the T99s. This time they were after much larger prey and we watched for 30-40 minutes as the orcas took out a decent sized Steller sea lion. We cruised back home after an amazing and thrilling day with the T99s!

-Tyson, photo contributions from Brittany and Casey

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October 16, 2021

October 17, 2021 — Leave a comment

Anacortes

With southeast winds howling and early rumors of whales in
Haro Strait, we thought the optimal route to start off our day would be to cut
through the inner islands. Not only did this take us into much more sheltered
waters, it was a truly breathtaking route. We worked our way up the eastern
coastline of Blakely, spying mature bald eagles and pacific madronas as we did.
We stopped to visit with harbor seals at Seal Rock, and continued through
Peavine Pass into the heart of the San Juans. This brought us out past Spieden
Island, where we stopped to visit with many Steller sea lions! We worked our way around the back side of
Spieden, finding many bald eagles as we did. Now in the zone of where the
morning’s report of whales should have been, we searched thoroughly around
Stuart, western Boundary Pass, Sidney Island and more, working with our fellow
captains along the way to divide up the search ground. Unfortunately, the
reports never materialized, but it was not for lack of effort. We enjoyed
cruising the southern coastline of Spieden Island, finding large herds of mouflon
sheep, sika deer and fallow deer. We continued the search for whales all the
way back to the marina, cruising south down San Juan Channel and out Thatcher
Pass towards Rosario. While we never did find whales, no one can take away the
truly spectacular adventure we had on the water. We look forward to inviting
all of today’s passengers back for another trip in the future!