Chilly Beautiful Day

A beautiful sky, pristine mountains, and calm seas greeted us today. I and three Victoria boats were the only ones out on this beautiful but chilly day. Stellar Sea Lions was our marine life highlight today.

Leaving Friday Harbor, we observed a US Coast Guard Cutter on patrol. A US Customs and Border Patrol vessel doing their thing too, keeping us all safe.

The first critters we saw today were Stellar Sea Lions at Whale Rocks. These are some big boys, and they get testy with each other quite often.

From there we headed south toward the Olympic Penninsula. Once abeam of Hein Bank traveled west. Then on to Discovery Island scanning for whales as we cruised on.

At Discovery Island, near Victoria, we watched some more Stellar Sea Lions, a Bald Eagle taking flight, another younger one harassed by seagulls, and a few Harbor Seals.

We scanned Haro Strait and then cruised up into Boundary Pass. Here we entered US waters once again. The water and spotting conditions could not have been better. Having seen some blows and finding whales would have made this a perfect day.

We made our way through Johns Pass, and I pointed out the Free Willy movie location. Then we proceeded to Spieden Island and saw some of the exotic animals there. They were all out, Mouflon Sheep, Fallow Deer, and Sika Deer.

None of our boats found whales today. However, a late report of a pod of orca moving eastbound beyond Victoria came in. I wished it had been just a few hours earlier. Then we would have seen Orca and Stellar Sea Lions.

My guests were asking about Popeye, our celebrity seal. I include a link here to another of my posts with pics of Popeye. Check this post out for pics of Popeye.

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