Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | May 29th, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Our classic tour departed the harbor today ready to see where our search for whales would take us. We quickly made a stop when our Captain Gabe spotted a California Sea Lion at the surface with what looked like a large fish in its mouth! After getting a closer look with our camera, we realized it was eating a small species of shark called a dogfish! I knew that sea lions would eat sharks and anything else they can grab, but I had never seen this predation myself so this was very exciting!
We continued traveling north, and turned into Spieden Channel to make our way into Haro Strait when we had a report of killer whales in that area. Once we reached the Haro, the winds and waves were definitely stronger and a bit splashy at our bow but the excitement of finding whales kept spirits high. Eventually we crossed into Canada near Sidney and Darcy islands, and spotted the tall black dorsal fins we were hoping to find. This group of 8 whales was made up of the T65As and 64Bs, two matrilines that we have seen traveling together frequently over the last week. It was great to see them again, and we got great looks at especially the largest two, 65A2 Ooxjaa and 65A3 Amir, as they stood out among the waves. Once they continued moving further southwest, we had to begin to turn back north.
We cruised along Spieden island on our way back, and got to see many harbor seals and bald eagles. The dead Stellar Sea Lion that we’ve been viewing this past week was still proving to be an excellent stop to see bald eagles and vultures in action. We even saw a few of the Sika Deer on the edge of the forest as we passed by. I loved all the great questions from our passengers today, and getting to see so many different species around our environment.
Check out our SmugMug page at https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/ to see more photos from our trip!