If you wave your arms, claimed the naturalist on our Zodiac,
the sea lions might follow us.
We did, and they did.
Today we took the Zodiacs out to a narrow channel where the
open ocean meets the inland passage. The tide moves very fast, and the water is
teaming with salmon on their way to spawn. The salmon, in turn, attract the sea
lions. Hundreds of them.
I’ve watched sea lions awkwardly lumber on the beach or rocks
before, but today we were out in the open ocean watching them swim gracefully
and playfully. Occasionally we’d see one catch a fish and slam it against the
water in order to break it so they could swallow its pieces.
Even though the wind threatened to blow my hat off, and the rain stung my face, I didn't care. It was so very amazing.
We also saw sea otters floating on their backs in the
channel eating sea urchins, using rocks to break them open. And, of course
(yawn), we observed more humpback whales. Tonight we saw three humpbacks
sleeping at the surface. I actually never tire of seeing humpbacks. I do hope
we’ll get to see an orca.
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