Subject: Saturday on the Viking Star in the San Juan Islands
Date: Jul 2 19:10:54 2001
From: Aubert, Steve - Steve.Aubert at METROKC.GOV


My daughter and I managed to join the nice folks from the East Lake
Washington Audubon group on the Viking Star sailing out of LaConner last
Saturday. Met a bunch of nice people and had a beautiful cruise through
Deception Pass and around the West side of Lopez and San Juan Islands. We
found Orcas, seals and lots of birds. I leave it to the experts to post
the list. I remember (I have not caught the listing bug, yet) Black
Oystercatchers, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet & Rhinoceros Auklets with
their bills full of herring. Some seemed to be carrying three or four fish
at a time. I just realized that the Auklet I saw up close was carrying
three fish hanging out of both sides of it's bill. It had all three by the
head. That strikes me as a pretty good trick. We saw Bald Eagles in
several places. We got some great close-up views of Orcas.

Great father/daughter trip. We even picked up fresh berries and live
Dungeness crab on the way home.

Steve Aubert
email: steve.aubert at metrokc.gov