Logan | Kestrel | July 6th of 2025 | 1400 tour
Today we were immediately greeted in Friday Harbor by a cutie-patootie of a Harbor Seal which marked the start of our luck fueled venture on our speedy vessel driven by Captain Eric.
Stop 1: Cattle Point
The beautiful sparkling waters backdropped on a most magnificent island of Gulls, Cormorants, and auks. The cormorant nests were tall, and many cormorants stood drying their wings on the rocks. Orange sunburst lichens grew atop the rocks presumably taking advantage of the excess nitrogen produced by the birds to grow as many sunburst lichens do.
Stop 2: Strait of Juan de Fuca – North of Port Angeles
This area had amazing views of the Olympics and… Mount Rainier! After occasional sightings of Harbor Porpoise throughout our drive, we arrive to a scene of killer whales (the T037As). These whales were fast! They were zooming all over during dives, keeping us on our toes as they changed direction multiple times. Four whales including the sprouting oldest son, the mother, and two younger children made up this group. As we left, we thanked the whales and explored the Vancouver Island side of Discovery Island.
Stop 3: Henry Island and Spieden Channel
A large bald eagle atop a tree, was the focus of our attention as we awaited a lone killer whale (T049A2) navigating out of Mosquito Pass. When he swam into the strait, we got great views of his massive dorsal fin emerging for a series of breaths until a deep dive met our time and we had to return.
On our return, our passengers made me feel the impact my jobs creates by how inspired people were by T049A2 and the others whales.
Another amazing trip on the water!