BCX0519, Stitch off Patos Island, and some Steller sea lions on 7/26/25 by Lincoln Humphry
July 21
A beautiful day on the water! It’s not everyday the Strait of Georgia seems like a lake, minus some of the current around Boiling Reef. We started our day strong at Viti Rocks. We saw pigeon guillemots flying around and crash landing into the waters, double crested cormorants sitting on their nests and drying their wings off, some glaucous winged gulls serenading us with their squawking calls. We found 3 stellar sea lions, 2 very large males, weighing down a channel marker taking a lovely little nap. Some good vocalizations as they were arranging themselves for a good cuddle puddle. Beautiful looks at their massive flippers and very sensitive whiskers which help them track the vibrations of their prey
From the sea lions, we pushed north, encountering some light fog which cleared up very quickly. We scanned Alden bank, some bait balls forming under the surface, but not larger animals underneath. At this point we got some great radio calls about a humpback on the north side of Tumbo Island heading south. We made a sharp left and ventured our way to find Monarch (BCZ0180). They were cruising too, pushing hard against the flood tide going about three knots. They were very consistent with their surface times and showed us flukes a few times which is always exciting to be able to ID humpbacks. Their massive blow hung in the air so beautifully, a testimony to the calm weather.
We made a slow cruise near Patos lighthouse, 1 of 40 automated lighthouses in the inner islands, then headed to Sucia Island to check out the North and South fingers. We saw some bald eagles flying overhead, great looks at the tafoni weathering patterns known on Sucia, and many pigeon guillemots chirping away! Always fun to cruise through Sucia. We headed east from Sucia making our way home through Hale Passage.
July 22nd
We started our day traveling through Bellingham Bay and between Lummi and Eliza Islands. Our first wildlife stop of the day was at Viti Rocks, where we saw cormorants, pigeon guillemots, and lots of resting harbor seals! We slowly made our way toward a navigational marker with 4 steller sea lions. The sea lions were so cuddly with each other, the complete opposite of the harbor seals. After spending some time with those stellers, Cpt Cassidy took us in between Pea Pod Rocks and Orcas Island to search for some more critters. Obstruction Pass was stunning as we made our way into Cross Sound where we met up with the T65Bs!
We hung out with Chunk, Birdsall, Corvus, and Rook for quite some time and they took us into Upright Channel. The water was such a beautiful shade of blue, and the contrast of the black and white whales was breathtaking. The sun ended up coming out and saying hello by the time we were leaving the whales and making our way back home. We learned about Toehead Island north of Cypress, and then saw pigeon guillemots at the Cone Islands.
July 23rd
There was a report of humpbacks right out of the gate, close to Stuart Island this morning. We made our way straight there but as we were traveling, the T65Bs were also picked up! Going North this morning was lucky for us, the water was so beautiful and calm, while we heard that the South end was very foggy.
We decided to go get a couple looks at the two humpbacks, which gave us some really nice tails and their spout was so clearly visible, shooting about 20 ft up in the air! After that we met up with the Biggs orcas and saw them for about an hour.
We got some great looks and near the end of our time, the Biggs decided to come check us out a bit for a close pass! They actually took us into Canadian water today, so that was a fun little excursion. On our way back, we saw sea lions cuddling and there were two in the water trying to find space. I hope eventually they got their turn on the marker! Viti Rocks had a juvenile eagle and a few seal pups!
July 24th
No whales ☹️
We went through the middle and saw looks at some pigeon guillemots and a couple harbor seals that surfaced. Traveled north to Boiling Reef and saw harbor porpoise as the currents were mixing near Patos Island lighthouse. We headed back through Hale Passage and saw harbor seals and sea lions on our way home.
July 25th
The tour started out this morning with some windy weather and choppy seas throughout Bellingham Bay, so Cpt Jeff took us through some more protected areas to hide from the rolling water while we all ate lunch. We started the trip this morning looking at the harbor seals hauled out on Eliza Rocks. There was a pair of harbor seals that were resting far above the high tide line today. Since harbor seals have fused pelvic bones, it’s difficult for them to do a lot of maneuvering on land, so their position was curious but they looked pretty comfortable.
We continued through Rosario Strait to get into the protected waters of the inner islands. With a stop at the Sinclair buoy for 3 sleepy stellars, and then onto Peapod Rocks for more harbor seals and a handful of active Bald eagles. Reports on the radio for wildlife were pretty scant, and the majority of weather reports coming in from both Northern and Southern waters were talking about 3 foot swells, not ideal. We kept scanning for more wildlife through Cross Sound and headed north up by Spieden Island in the hopes for humpbacks in Boundary Pass. We got a report from Canadian PWWA of a humpback deep into Canadian Gulf Islands, but technically possible for us to get to! Luckily already heading in the correct direction, we ended up further north than our captain today had ever been on the vessel!
Trincomali Channel by Galiano Island was new waters for us today, but we found the humpback! The baleen whale was incredibly active at the surface, with lots of shallow dives, with just the little tips of its tail showing above water. This whale was identified as the calf of Fallen Knight, the humpback that the PWWA found entangled last weekend and helped keep track of the whale while Cascadia Research Institute prepared to free the tail from fishing gear. It was a success! The humpback has made it so far north since last week, and is looking more energetic. We had a lovely time watching it surface, with a few tail lobs tossed as we departed! Overall, our long journey had us back to the dock just a bit late with 98 miles travelled!
July 26
What a day We ventured North right away with some reports of humpbacks at Monarch Head on Saturna Island. Our cruise north was beautiful. Minimal wind and the start of a flood tide made for some great viewing conditions. Since we wanted to find this whale, because there were only a few boats heading north, we started our scan early. Coming on scene we saw our humpback once before they disappeared for about two hours. It’s always impressive how whales can be so elusive.
We did our due diligence making a big wide scan as we had no idea which direction this whale was going to come to the surface next. The Strait of Georgia was extremely calm with some major tide currents coming together. Always fun to see how many harbor porpoises are foraging in the tide lines. Thankfully another whale watching boat coming from the south helped us out in our search and we were able to relocate the humpback whale!
They were much more consistent with their direction, but this whale, BCX0519, Stitch, had some long downtimes. We had beautiful looks at their spout, great vocalization of their spout as well. Stitch gave us a few flukes but they were diving deep in pretty shallow water off of Patos Island. Super excited to find this whale again after searching hard. The beauty of the backdrop of Patos was a treat too. Cruising home we stopped at the north side of Lummi to check out 4 steller sea lions taking a nap before cruising home.
July 27th
We made a quick pit stop at Viti Rocks to check out the neighborhood birds and harbor seals. There was a fully matured bald eagle and a juvenile on the rocks close to the water. After that we went to go see a steller sea lion hauled out on a navigation marker to thermoregulate. All of the critters seemed a little sleepy today. We went north to check out a report of some killer whales in the area, and what a great report it was! We saw the T65Bs in the Gulf Islands north west of Pender. The water was beautifully calm and the whales were doing lazy zig zags. They seemed to be resting and taking a break, and it was perfect for us. They were so fun to watch with consistent down times and they were showing us their saddle patches and eye patches. On our way back we stopped at Clements reef north of sucia and saw more of our pinnipeds, a steller sea lion and harbor seals. We traversed across the strait to go down Hale Passage home.
