Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/27/2019 | 2:00pm
We had such a wonderful time aboard M/V Sea Hawk today! Our vessel was filled with family fun including beautiful seas and interesting wildlife! Junior naturalist, Conrad, was thrilled to be out on the water and maintained solid enthusiasm for all wildlife seen throughout the trip! Our vessel headed north and we saw so many cool pelagic bird species along the way, including rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemonts, double crested cormorants, common murres, and a kingfisher!
Our captain spotted a highly productive area with swirling currents and upwelling. We shut off our engine for a bit and were excited to find harbor porpoise swimming through these waters! They can be easily misidentified as a dolphin by the way they move through the water. If we were to look up close we could see physical differences right away but from a vessel this can be tricky. Their triangular dorsal fin gave them away today and it was fun looking out for them as we made our journey through the water.
We then stopped to see harbor seals and their pups hauled out on a small beach near Spieden Island! It was adorable to see these pups nestled closely by their mother’s side! One pair went into the water and started playing around! On the back side of Spieden passengers had a great wildlife viewing of Mouflan sheep climbing the rocks to access freshwater. As the sheep scaled the side of the island they performed this athletic task with ease! This exotic species were definitely built for rocky ledges and overhangs! Bald eagles could be heard in the near vicinity and after a little bit of searching we found two adults and a juvenile! The plumage on this young bird revealed it to be under a year old. It’s so cool to see one of this year’s chicks thriving next to the adults!
Our spacious vessel carried passengers with ease through calm waters today, making our wildlife excursion a very pleasant trip!