March 5th - Gulf Island Seals and Sea Lions
On March 5th we headed out of the harbour on Keta, hoping our whales from the previous day were still around. We traveled through Dodd’s Narrows into the beautiful Gulf Islands. As we passed through Dodd’s narrows we slowed down to look at the shores of Vancouver Island and to see some of the California Sea lions splashing in the water. The sun was at the perfect angle to see their breath rising from the water as they surfaced to breath.
The waters were protected quite well providing a smooth sailing as we made our way south through the islands. We traveled for quiet a ways through Trincomali channel until we reached Active Pass which sits between Galiano and Mayne Island. There was a huge flock of gulls resting on the water near a small island at the mouth of the pass where we stopped to watch the harbour seals sun bathing and swimming around. After spending some time there we traveled through Active Pass to see if there were any whales hiding around the corner. After making a loop we continued our journey, searching the waters for those tall fins, as we passed around the south end of Salt Spring Island.
We looped around the west side of Salt Spring and up through Sansum narrows. We continued up through Dodd’s Narrows again and made a stop at Harmac to see the California Sea Lions on the log booms. As we came to a rest near them they all woke up, more than half of them taking to the waters for a swim, all of them calling out and barking to one another.
In the back of the crowd of 900 lbs. California Sea Lions a large 1500+ lbs. male Stellar Sea lion made an appearance, coming up to rest on the logs amongst his smaller cousins. Outside of breeding season these 2 species don’t seem to mind each others company, as we often find the Stellers lounging at the California Sea Lion sites and vice versa. We left our sea lions bathing in the sun and made our way back to the harbour.
We covered over 80 miles in our search for whales today, sadly the whales were just not around, as it sometimes happens. The Salish Sea is a large area, spanning much of the BC and Washington coast line and wildlife doesn’t always cooperate. Just like people they have their own lives, and the whales are always on the move, so some days it can be hard to find them.
We do honour our whale sightings guarantee, so all the guests today received vouchers to come out again whenever they would like for another chance to find some whales!
Today’s photos were taken by Marine Naturalist Rebeka Pirker.
Harbour seals enjoying the sunshine in Active Pass!
Another chubby seal soaking in the sunshine.
This seal seemed smaller than the rest.
It was a cuddle puddle on the rock!
Plenty of seals watching from the water as well.
One of the gulls feeding in Active Pass.
So many gulls!
