It’s cooled down a little bit here, getting closer to normal May weather. The sun was still out in full, bright force but air wasn’t so hot as it has been, but summer still feels like it is here a little early. Everything is opening on the island, more folks are starting to walk around enjoying the longer sunny days, and all the plants are so excited for the sunshine after a pretty grey winter. This sunny Saturday we had a choice to make, since there was no reports out yet, as is common in the spring we decided to go north to look! We made some pit stops on the way to check out the huge number of Harbor Seals on the rocks and the Steller’s Sea Lions hogging the seashore since it was an extra low tide on Saturday. Along with those adorable pinnipeds, the Bald Eagles were busy soaring around too, and we saw quite a few perching elegantly on large fir trees with beautiful sky blue backdrops.
We continued north towards Canada, and eventually crossed the watery border. While there isn’t an actual line, halfway in between the San Juan Islands and the Southern Gulf Islands is where the border lies, and it exists in the largest and deepest bodies of water that surround the San Juans. Don’t worry though, we can definitely go into Canada without you pulling out your passports as long as we don’t drop anchor or make landfall there, which we won’t. Capt. Mike, Emily, and I kept on towards Saltspring Island, one the tallest around, looking for any blows that could be spotted over the flat, shimmering water. There they were! Not one but two heart shaped blows rose in the distance. Heart shaped blows are pretty distinctive of Humpback Whales! As we got closer and tried to identify these two using the bottoms of their flukes, the original thought was Big Mama and her calf, but then the second whale was too big to be a calf, so maybe Heather and her older daughter, but then their fluke patterns were wrong, It may have been Wendy and another unknown one or two brand new Humpbacks that we haven’t seen before! Over the past decade or so the Humpback population in the North Pacific has increased after whaling bas banned internationally (except for a few nations) and the Salish Sea has seen more and more big baleen whales as a result of it. We’re hoping the trend continues and more Humpback Whales decide to stop by on their long, annual migrations. Whoever these two were, they swam very tightly together for being how big they were and fluked over and over again showing their tails as the dove for food. So cool! Whale until next time folks.
Naturalist Erick Dowell
M/V Sea Lion