A Tufted Puffin!!!  My eyes lock on to the white dot bobbing on the water in the one o’clock direction.  Could it really be….a Tufted Puffin???  Yes!  This is my first sighting this season, and only my third sighting ever.  The Rhinocerous Auklet is seen frequently in these waters, but this “relative” is a rarity.  What a great start to the trip today!

We head out into Haro Strait and to the north fins appear.  Then surprise….more fins to the starboard side, one nice mother and off spring pair moving toward Canada.  A few large male fins draw us further up the strait as we watch the whales cross the international boundary with ease.

The afternoon trip brings us to the same area.  More and more whales move to the north toward the Fraser River.  The news flows that whales from every pod are there.  A Super Pod might mean that the water is rich with salmon….enough for many whales at once.  I hope so.

Along the way back we check out a wildlife refuge island and find Harbor seals as they bask in the late afternoon sunshine and two Adult Bald eagles on a low tree branch survery the water.  Time to turn for home….

~ Nan