And What to My Wondering Eyes Should Appear???.....

 This is a  most amazing surprise!  Toward the end of the trip, I am standing up on the bow scanning the hillside of Spieden Island looking for wildlife....terrestial wildlife, really.  Suddenly my eyes pick up four very thin black fins, DIRECTLY ahead of us in the water!??  Then they vanish.  I shout..."Hey...I think we just....we just...found..." and I wonder, what have we found?  The fins could possibly be Orcas...I only got a fast look...but didn't seem really big enough.  My eyes glance down...and comng directly for us, swiftly gliding under the boat, are 6 Pacific whitesided dolphins! (LAGS)  These speedy cetaceans are rare in our neighborhood and if I hadn't seen them many times 300 miles from here at the north end of Vancouver Island, I might not have recognized them immediately!

And I will call this one, "Speedy"!

Here are a few more shots of the gorgeous metal gray and light gray - white colored dolphins as they race ahead of us, behind us, under us...around us.

Pacific whitesided dolphins are often found in large groups of over 100 animals.  Today we have about 12 indviduals.  They are approximately 8 ft. in length and weigh in about 400 lbs.  In my experience they are highly active and very speedy.

There have been several sightings this spring in the San Juan and Canadian waters.  Are they expanding their range?  Yes, Please!

The LAGS are not the only stars of our trip.  We find a Minke whale at Salmon Bank that is into showing off.  We get many good looks at this solitary cetacean as it crosses back and forth across our bow and even lunges out of the water!  See the notch at the bottom of the edge of the dorsal fin?
This is an identifier and yes, it's a whale known as Nick Jagger.  Welcome back to the Salish Sea, Nick!

There is also a good chance to see some of our regulars this time of year....the Steller sea lions are going at it to see who wins the "Biggesst Bully Award" for the day.  Any votes?

Over 200 Harbor seals are out for a sun break covering many rocky beaches in and around the islands.  Oh, and, here is Mr. (or Mrs.)  Bald eagle sporting those flashy adult colors of white, black...and yellow!

    Still smiling as I write this post!  Awesome day...for all that to my wondering eyes appeared!!