[8/4/17- M/V Sea Hawk- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM]
Roche Harbor is a summer’s day dream. There are children playing, dogs frolicking, brunches being leisurely enjoyed on restaurant patios overlooking the water, aaaaand there’s the option to go whale watching! So today, we did just that!
M/V Sea Hawk meandered out of Roche Harbor from San Juan Island in search of whales and other cool wildlife. And lucky us, we came across a humpback whale in the bay between Pender Island and Saturna Island! We watched it heading northwest, then it changed it’s mind, and decided to come back out the bay the way it came. Perhaps it changed its mind or made a wrong turn? It was randomly popping up amongst boats, surprising us with some amazing looks. We could hear its incredibly loud exhales surprising us on all sides of the boat. They can exhale up to 300 miles per hour!
We left the humpback and sought out some other wildlife. We came to Speiden Island, and we saw a beautiful bald eagle perched on a treetop by the shoreline. Another eagle soared past it and landed nearby, which set the original bird into a tizzy! It started chirping and chattering and trilling and screeching, and it must have been excited or twitterpated, because it flew over to the new individual and perched right beside it, continuing its calls until it calmed down. The excited rascal even tried to poop on a harbor seal innocently swimming below, but fortunately, the seal dodged the bullet. We also came across some feeding Sika deer on Speiden. That island never disappoints!
Peak season is now for whale watching, and today proved that correct! Who wouldn’t want to see one of the largest animals in the world? Even better, tie it all together with fired-up eagles, adorable seals, and some exotic deer, and you have yourself an awesome August day!