July 29th, 2007.

Cormorants & Seals at Chain Islands.

Common Murre stretchs its wings.

Harbor Porpoise
Hybrid Porpoise

The 5 pictures above show the Bait Ball we found near Turn Point and the Seals we saw feeding on the bait ball.

Up to 8' swells in the Juan De Fuca Strait made it a very unpleasant place to be this afternoon so we ventured East into the much calmer Haro Strait and had a fantastic Wildlife adventure. Near turn point we briefly spotted a Hybrid Porpoise, the result of male Harbor Porpoises mating with female Dalls Porpoises. We also saw this little mammal again later in the trip.

Next we sighted in the distance a large number of Gulls and diving birds such as Rhinoceros Auklets and Common Murres. This is often the sign of a bait ball (a large congregation of small fish milling together) and sure enough as we got closer we could see that was exactly what we had found. The Gulls could clearly be seen picking off the small fish and then suddenly we saw a splash and sighted at least 3-4 Harbor Seals also feeding on the bait ball! Our passengers were thrilled to see the action right before their eyes as several of the seals attacked the bait ball.

On the return to Victoria we also saw a number of Harbor Porpoises moving swiftly through the Strait. We then stopped at the Chain Islands and saw a large number of Seals and Seal Pups, plus a large gathering of Cormorants. It was another memorable day on the water.