March 28, 2025 - A drizzly day on the Salish Sea
The rain was no match for us as we bundled up and boarded, ready for an adventure!
Today we headed south, entering Dodd Narrows. The currents were very strong as we entered, with many eddies (whirlpools) all around us. Near the coast of the island, we spotted a raft of California sea lions, fighting the tides as they made their way deeper into the Narrows. Dodd Narrows is a perfect hunting grounds for the sea lions, as many fish and cephalopods get corralled through it to the other side… meaning, this is basically a “fast food” stop for them! It doesn’t take nearly as much effort to hunt when your prey is forced into a smaller area!
After crossing we started our journey southbound, zig-zagging across the inside of the Southern Gulf Islands to cover as much area as possible in hopes of finding whales. Once we were near Yellow Point we made our first stop of the trip - not for wildlife, but to pull a huge chunk of styrofoam out of the ocean. We strive to be as eco-friendly as possible, and this includes taking garbage out of the ocean whenever we can during our trips. Styrofoam is believed to take up to 500 years to decompose - that is a long time to remain in our environment! If you can use a reusable option instead of a single-use item, we always recommend you do so to help conserve our environment!
After our mini-rescue mission, we continued onwards. We went in and out of some of the smaller gulf islands, scanning all around as the rain pattered down and around us. Once we were done investigating the inside we turned our attention towards Porlier Pass, one of the waterways that leads out into the Strait of Georgia.
We crossed Porlier Pass and turned north towards a small ecological reserve found near the entrance to the pass. Ecological Reserves are areas the government has designated as protected spaces, usually for endangered species. In this case, it is to help protect our cormorants’ nesting grounds! While our cormorants were waddling around on the rocks, they weren’t the only impressive sight there. We had many Steller sea lions lumbering along, searching for the best places for their afternoon naps.
Once we departed our sea lions we began to search along Valdez Island’s coastline for fins and blows. After heading up the coastline we pulled away and looped out into the Strait of Georgia, our eyes ever scanning. Our whales can travel over 150 km in a day, so you never know where they will pop up!
After investigating the strait we turned our attention back towards a small group of islands near the tip of Gabriola Island. We dipped into the Flat Top Islands and pulled up to Saturnina Island to see a number of our Harbour Seals snoozing away at the water’s edge. Our seals (sometimes lovingly known as “rock sausages”) spend much of their time in our shallow waters where they breed and raise their young. While it is a bit early in the season right now, we are excited to see the adorable faces of new pups amongst the adults in the coming months.
Saturnina Island was for sale in 2021 for over $1,000,000. We thought it might not sell, as it is a small and rather steep island, but we were pleasantly surprised when Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon, made a large donation to Parks BC to purchase the island. Saturnina is now a protected nature preserve, where many seals, eagles, herons, cormorants, ravens, and gulls come to rest (or nest). With many endangered and threatened species calling our coast home, reserves need to be established for our flora and fauna to continue to flourish in the coming years - so Saturnina becoming a reserve was a big deal when it occurred!
We left our seals behind and continued northbound along Gabriola Island, once again in search mode. We looped up towards North Nanaimo, scanning and scanning, but unfortunately, the whales eluded us. Because our whales are wild and free of trackers and tags, this can sometimes happen. Every guest on board received a voucher for another trip, and another chance to come out and see whales with us, for free!
Please enjoy this trip’s photos taken by Marine Naturalist Cheyenne Brewster!
A flock of comorants huddle together on top of Canoe Islets.
These sea lions looked very groggy as we approached.
Grumbles and growls were heard all around as everyone shuffled around, fighting for the best spots on the rocks.
A pair of Bald Eagles watches from the top of the rocks.
They find all sorts of “interesting” positions to get comfortable in.
Peeking over the edge of the rock!
It kind of looks like sea lion jenga at the haulouts at this time of the year, with so many of them cuddled up together.
The sea lions find anywhere on the rocks to get comfortable… and we mean everywhere!
Biiiiiig stretch as they settle in for another nap.
Our sleepy Harbour seals, also known as “rock sausages”, nestled up on the rocks.
A bob of seals eyeing us up curiously.
A couple of Harlequin ducks foraging along the edge of the water.