What a day full of surprises!  Our trip today took us to the west side of San Juan Island.  It was so good to be moving through the water as it was so hot at the dock.  We rounded the southern tip of San Juan Island and as we headed north the first thing we saw breaking the surface was a Steller sealion!  This was remarkable as these very large sealions move back out to the breeding grounds during the month of May.  But wait!  It’s July!  We got a few really good looks as the sealion headed out toward Salmon Bank.  We continued up island and there we found two Minke whales slowing making their way north in the comany of 21 year old L pod male, Gaia!  How do these baleen feeding Minke whales keep company with an Orca whale, when a Transient Orca whale would be seeking out the Minke as prey???  But our Southern Resident fish eating Orca whales…well, “No Fear” I guess is the answer.

The water was flat today, great for viewing all wildlife.  Later in our trip we had great views of Harbor seals, and lots of sea birds.  It was so plesant on the water that it was hard to remember that upon reaching the dock it would once again be 90 degrees!  This is a virtual heat wave for the San Juan Islands!

~Nan