Had a great tour yesterday with a family willing the brave the cool and damp weather. We ran a circuit in North Haro Strait around Kelp Reef, Henry Island, Stuart Island, and Speiden Island. We were hoping to encounter a group of Transient Killer Whales (marine mammal eating) that have been sighted frequently in the area. Weather conditions made visibility greater than a mile difficult. We did not see any whales, but did find large groups of Harbor Porpoise in Speiden Channel, as well as 20 or more Northern (Stellars) Sea Lions in the same vicinity. The Sea Lions looked like they were feeding on some type of bottom fish, as they did not have the typical pink/red color of salmon. I did see one fish that looked like a small halibut, and my naturalist thought she saw one with a dog fish (small shark).
There were literally hundreds of Mouflon Sheep on Speiden Island, including large groups of males traveling with females. This sighting was comparable to some of the largest groups I've seen in 12 years. A rough estimate put our sighting at 300 sheep. There was also a group of several large Fallow Deer.
The weather continues to be cool and wet here on San Juan Island after a relatively dry early winter. Looks like we're catching up on our annual rain fall this week. We're still running sea kayak and whale watch trips daily.