Spying on Speiden

Photo of a Bald Eagle by our guest Dan Konopacki

Yesterday was a fun group in that we took five people out for an intimate trip around the islands. We began our orca search by heading down the east side of San Juan Island so we could high tail it to Victoria if they spotted whales. Unfortunately, there was no whale chatter over the radio and Captain Hobbes decided to turn around and head back towards Speiden because the water was very choppy. (We this these waves contributed to our lack, and everyone's lack for that matter, of seeing whales.) We took our guests to Speiden in hopes of catching something unique and exciting.

The excitement built as we parallelled Speiden because we saw a Bald Eagle kill! There was an adult and a juvenile feeding on a baby Mouflon Sheep carcass in plain view of our boat. We believe the baby died shortly before we got there, perhaps it was a still birth, and the eagles were taking advantage of the opportunity. Our National Geographic experience didn't end there. We also saw two juvenile male Mouflon Sheep headbutting each other. This "play" behavior eventually becomes more than a game when they are old enough to fight for females. They would rear up on their hind legs and crash their heads together with a force so great we could hear it echo!

We left Speiden with great photos and incredible memories and headed out into the Haro to look for porpoises and of course, orcas. We saw a few Dall's, but the waves made it difficult to keep an eye on them so Hobbes took us back around Stuart Island to check out some Harbor Seals and Bald Eagle nests. The trip came to a close as we came around the north side of Speiden, but the excitement was far from over. There were five male Steller Sea Lions hauled out on Green Point. Our guests had seen them swimming in the water earlier, but it's hard to comprehend how huge they are when you just see their heads in the water. These guys were huge and stood up nice and tall for our pictures.

Although we didn't see orca, the trip was a success. We may not be able to guarantee the whales, but we can guarantee fun and a great opportunity to see wildlife being just that... wild.