Kelly | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, June 10th 2025 | 12:30 PM
We took a hard right out of Friday Harbor and headed south in San Juan Channel. After some quick looks at harbor porpoise outside Griffin Bay, we made a pitstop at Goose Island. This Island is a hotspot for a variety of wildlife including harbor seals, cormorants, an glaucous wing gulls. As we made our way through Cattle Pass, guest's noticed the how turbulent the water was around us. This is caused by a process called upwelling! Our uneven sea floor works like a ramp, stirring nutrients up from the bottom of the ocean floor and exposes them to sunlight. This process creates an abundance of phytoplankton, and is the main reason why the Salish Sea draws in so much wildlife.
Next stop on our trip was Eastern Bank. We were investigating a rumored whale report, two humpback whales! We shortly arrived on scene and were treated to amazing looks at this humpback pair. This was clearly a mom and calf, one whale being significantly larger than the other. Mom was identified as Zig Zag (BCX1193), and this was her 4th documented calf. We watched as Zig Zag would arch her back for a long deep dive, while her calf mostly remained at the surface logging there for minutes at a time. Perhaps this youngster was tired and didn't want embark on those dives with mom!
After watching the mom and calf pair in the glassy water of the Straight of Juan de Fuca, we made out way over to Salmon Bank. The can or navigational marker that indicates this shallow bank was quite literally crawling with Steller sea lions. We watched as about 5 different sea lions fought for their spot on the can. Launching themselves out of the water in an attempt to claim a spot on the marker, often failing and sliding off the side. It was endlessly entertaining to watch, and the perfect grand finale to our tour.