Tuesday April 22nd

With a full boat load dominated by passengers from ‘Down Under’ we headed out to the Strait in search of some Pacific Northwest marine life. Conditions were somewhat choppy but passengers enjoyed it, not as much as the complimentary hot chocolates though! We scanned the open Strait and the coastline and managed to track down a Harbor porpoise just south-west of Race Rocks. We looped around Beecher Bay and came across a Bald Eagle perched up on a rock, and were lucky enough to see it take off and soar through the air with its almost 7 ft wingspan. We then headed across to Race Rocks where there were around 20 Northern Sea Lions being quite playful and vocal. We were fortunate enough to witness some aggressive behaviour and also a few hauling out and moving about the rock. There were a few Californian Sea Lions on the rock, as were 4 juvenile Elephant Seals and plenty of Harbor Seals on the neighbouring rocks.
‘Twas a pinniped fiesta, with true seals and eared seals galore! It’s truly amazing the species richness in this region of the world, and the passengers certainly were able to appreciate this.