April 15th

This afternoon, we travelled east hoping to find J-pod. Although the whales were elusive today, we had an excellent trip. Our first stop on the tour was Trial Island, where we spotted several harbour seals lazing the afternoon away on the rocky beach. Trial Island is an excellent spot to find bald eagles, and we found a bald eagle perched on the sign post again. Hoping to find J-pod heading south through Rosario Strait, we headed to Colville Island and travelled along the rugged south coast of Lopez Island.

Our next stop was Whale Rocks off the southeastern tip of San Juan Island. These rocks are a favourite haulout site of Stellar sea lions, and we found two perched on the rocks! Our next destination was the very scenic Chatham Island to view an active eagle's nest, where we found yet another mature eagle. We finished the tour with a journey through the Chain Islets and Great Chain Island. An eagle was perched atop the double-crested cormorant colony. We watched as it was chased off its perch by a large mob of glaucous-winged gulls. It was exciting end to a wonderful afternoon.