Olivia Esqueda | Monday, June 2nd | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm
Wow. This was a truly incredible day out on the water, and definitely one of my favorites all season! We started the trip by heading south through San Juan Channel, passing Goose Island with all the birds and Harbor Seals hanging out on its shores. We didn’t spend too much time before passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and beginning our transit to south Hein Bank. We were receiving reports of not one, but two Humpback Whales feeding and socializing in this area. As we were coming into view of where the Humpback Whales would be, we found two more- a mom and calf further south in the distance! We decided to continue with our first group as planned with how far we already traveled.
This plan deemed extra successful when the two, large baleen whales decided to become extra social and curious, displaying many surface behaviors we don’t commonly see out here. Poptart [BCY1014, born in 2016] migrated here from Hawaii, while Sandstorm [BCY1123, born in 2018] migrated from Mexico- making this feel unique in terms of their socialization and companion feeding. After viewing lots of pectoral slaps, peduncle throws, and lobtails, we headed back north spying Steller’s Sea Lions at Whale Rocks before completing our trip back home in Friday Harbor.
Interested in seeing more of our trip photos? Check us out at: sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com