65 and sunny – I think spring has finally arrived here in the San Juans!

In San Juan Channel we saw about half a dozen harbor seals hauled out, basking in the sun, as well as two bald eagles perched on the treetops along the shoreline of Lopez Island. We spent some time around the south end of San Juan and Lopez watching the feeding frenzy of gulls, cormorants, auklets and murres, wondering what kind of ‘bait ball’ of fish was just below the surface. We then traveled to Long Island and checked out a massive eagle’s nest, and saw several more bald eagles, this time all juveniles. The highlight of the trip was seeing the gigantic Steller sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks. There must have been about 20 or so all sprawled out, growling whenever a neighbor got too close. Amongst the crowd of giants, two stood out; one that had been branded by researchers, and another with markings along its body, likely from a run in with a propeller. The ID number of the branded sea lion has been reported to the researchers so that they can track its movement. After hanging out with the Steller’s we headed back up San Juan Channel and passed by a harbor porpoise, which made for a nice end to a beautiful day!