March 16, 2023 - Pinnipeds amongst the Islands

When we left the harbour on March 16th it was a beautiful day! The sun was shining overhead and our guests and staff were excited to start their search of the Salish Sea! Today we headed south, into the Southern Gulf islands. First, we went through Dodd Narrows, a unique area since the narrowness of the passage (only about 300m wide) causes huge currents when the tides are changing!

Dodd is a common wildlife corridor since it is one of three of the northern exists from the southern gulf islands. Animals like orca, humpbacks, grey whales, seals, and sea lions are common sights passing through!

Today it was just us. We continued south, down Stuart Channel all the way to the northern side of Sansum Narrows before turning around and heading through Huston Passage, exploring Trincomali Channel, and heading back north. We eventually came across the new hangout spot for our local Steller Sea Lions! They were there in full force, as you can see from the photos. Eventually, our time searching started running out, and we had to start heading back to the harbour. Although we didn’t end up finding whales this trip, all our guests got their recent sightings vouchers so they can come back anytime to try again for free!

We always say, even when there’s no whales, you’ll still get to see wildlife, learn about the ecosystem, and have a fun boat ride!

Today’s photos were taken by Marine Naturalist Aly Kohlman.