April 2026: 3-Day Birdwatching & Wildlife Cruise Trip Log

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to set sail aboard Glacier Spirit on our annual 3-Day Birdwatching & Wildlife Cruise in partnership with Olympic Birdfest? Well, Naturalist (and birding enthusiast) Rachel is here to give you the low-down! Taking place this year between April 13 and 15, our spring 3-Day trip covered over 200 nautical miles (nm), spotted over 60 unique bird species, and included time observing orcas and a gray whale. Check out our trip log below:

 

Day 1: West side of Whidbey Island, Deception Pass, Swinomish Slough, and San Juan Islands (72 nm – dark red trackline)

We left Port Townsend with high spirits…and some high winds! In an attempt to lessen the impact of the westerly winds, we hugged the Whidbey Island shoreline, heading for Deception Pass. Offering beautifully colored water, stunning scenery, and amazing wildlife, it’s apparent why the Pass is one of our favorite destinations to visit! We spotted many of our target diving seabirds along the shore, including groupings of all three cormorant species (Brandt’s, Pelagic, and Double-crested), which gave us great comparison shots, as well as pigeon guillemots and rhinoceros auklets.

From there, we cruised through the Swinomish Slough, where the narrow channel afforded us time to scour both shorelines for all manner of land and water birds. Common mergansers, buffleheads, and goldeneyes poked around the reeds, while several northern harriers and swallows flew over the nearby meadows. After the Slough, it was off to our home base on Roche Harbor, so we zig-zagged our way there through the San Juan Islands. About halfway to our destination, we came across a very active bait ball with tons of feeding seabirds and gulls. While the ball itself didn’t seem that large, passengers and crew got incredible looks at very large herring as they splashed near the surface. They were so big, in fact, that they caught the attention of a nearby bald eagle, who swooped in three times to grab talons-full of fish right next to the boat! This proved to be an epic way to end an eventful first day!

 

Day 2: Whales off of Henry Island, hiking on Stuart Island, and tour around Spieden Island (48 nm – bright red trackline)

While the wind was drastically improved for day 2, we left Roche Harbor in a bit of a drizzle that persisted for most of the day. However, spirits stayed high… particularly after an early-morning call about possible nearby orcas! We ended up being the first boat on-scene and located the T34s and T37s just off Henry Island! The two pods cruised south toward the west side of San Juan Island, giving us the quintessential PNW backdrop, with just the smallest bit of mist hanging in the air.

After leaving the whales, we made our way back north for a pit stop on Stuart Island. After a quick lunch on the boat, most of our guests and crew went for a walk through the woods and trails, checking out birds and sights as we went. Brown creepers, chickadees, and yellow-rumped warblers were abundant in the branches, and a stunningly orange male rufous hummingbird perched for his portrait along the cliff. In addition to the bird life, it was great to stretch our legs and take in the peace and serenity of the landscape.

Back out on the water, we toured more of the smaller rocky outcroppings and islands of the chain, ending with a circumnavigation of Spieden Island. Spieden is known for its exotic mouflon sheep, as well as sika and fallow deer that have roamed free on the island for decades. They are not always the easiest to spot, but we were lucky enough to get great looks at all 3 species! In addition to the beautiful but non-native wildlife, we also came across stellar sea lions hauled out on the shore, and bald eagles in (it felt like) nearly every other tree. Another busy and super successful day on the water!

 

Day 3: Whales off of Discovery Island, crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Dungeness Spit, Protection Island, whale off of Diamond Point, and Port Townsend Bay (84 nm – black trackline)

The sun came out in full force for our third and final day of the trip. Once again, we lucked out in hearing about possible whales in the direction we were already planning on heading. By the time we arrived, the report was over an hour old, so, knowing we should be on high alert, we scoured the area around Discovery and Trial Islands, off the Vancouver Island coastline. Just as we were about to give up, eagle-eyed Captain EJ spotted a huge fin out in front of us! After a second closer look, the ID was unmistakable — we had found another orca, this time it was T63 Chainsaw! Definitely the most identifiable adult male orca in our region, Chainsaw is famous for the two large notches on the trailing edge of his extra-tall dorsal fin. He’s a “bucket list” whale for many orca fans, and we always get excited to spot him!

After spending some time with Chainsaw, we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca and angled towards Dungeness Spit along the Olympic Peninsula coastline. It was a bit of a nautical crossing, but we were rewarded with tons of birds upon arrival! Many flocks of Brandt’s geese, surf scoters, long-tailed ducks, and others flew past our windows as we watched and had a delicious soup lunch. From there, we slowly made our way to Protection Island, where some rarer black scoters were a definite surprise! Hundreds of harbor seals and a lone elephant seal lined Kanem Spit, soaking up the sun. While watching them, a splash to the side caught our eye, and we came upon a steller sea lion thrashing about with a skate at the surface! Gulls had gathered to pick up the scraps, but, in an interesting twist, a juvenile bald eagle also came by looking for an easy meal. The giant stellers didn’t seem to want to share, and as the eagle made another pass, the sea lion leapt several feet vertically out of the water, seemingly trying to grab the eagle out of the air! He missed, but it was an interaction neither crew nor guest had ever seen before!

As we turned to head for home, I was hoping to get one more sighting to end our trip…there had been a gray whale nearby at Diamond Point for several days, and I was determined to find it if it was still around. After several minutes of scanning, I finally saw a blow on the horizon! Super close to shore, we got amazing looks at a very cooperative gray doing high-arching dives and huge exhalations. After looking at photos, we knew this was the same whale we had seen many times in the weeks prior, but it is not an animal known to local researchers. After getting some good pictures to send to Cascadia Research Collective, we once again turned for Port Townsend. But the day wasn’t over just yet! Pulling into the marina, we finished things off with the best looks at a marbled murrelet just feet from the boat, and some sleepy river otters on the dock as we disembarked! Another amazing 3-day adventure in the books, and we just can’t wait for the next one!

 

Final Bird Count: 61 species

Brandt, Canada Goose, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Whimbrel, Sanderling, Dunlin, Bonaparte’s Gull, Short-billed Gull (Mew Gull), Glaucous-winged Gull, Olympic Gull (Glaucous-winged x Western), Caspian Tern, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Rock Pigeon, Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, American Crow, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, American Robin, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

— Until next time, Naturalist Rachel signing off!