Our day started with a hint of sun peeking out from behind the clouds as walked down to our boats for the day. It was feeling like another beautiful spring day here in Nanaimo. We started our day moving south through Northumberland Channel before coming to Dodd Narrows. These Narrows are a local favourite here, as waters constrict between Mudge Island and Vancouver Island nutrients are brought to the surface which bring a large amount of active wildlife to the area. Today was no different as there was as many different species of seabird were seen floating on the surface with the odd California Sea Lion popping its head out of the water in between the eddying waters.

Once we passed through Dodd Narrows into Stuart Channel, we began our search in earnest, with our semi-covered vessel Kula heading through the Gabiola Passage before heading south in the Georgia Strait. Our open vessel continued moving south through Stuart Channel before passing into the Georgia Strait through Porlier Pass between Valdes Island and Galiano Island. Similar to Dodd Narrows, Porlier Pass has a number of fast eddies and currents which bring a wide number of wildlife to the area. We saw good numbers of Surf Scoters and Bonapartes gulls in particular sitting on the surface in what are called rafts, where large numbers of seabirds sit together.

We then took a quick pit stop, passing by a small rocky outcrop outside Porlier Pass called the Canoe Islets. These small islands are a well-known haulout for sealions in our area. Today was no different, as we approached the rocks, we began to see a large number of brown bodies lying in the sun. We then began to hear the telltale roaring that is a dead giveaway of what we were beginning to see: Steller Sea Lions! These are the largest species of sea lion, reaching over 3m in length and over 1 metric tonne in weight. Sea Lions often come out of the water to these haulouts to rest between long stretches at sea.

After getting a good look at the Steller Sea Lions, we continued our search south, passing along the outside of Galiano Island and moving through Active Pass between the Southern tip of Galiano Island and the Northern end of Mayne Island. As we turned back north, the sun really began to shine, giving us a beautiful view of the Gulf Islands as we zigzagged our way back towards Dodd Narrows.

After passing through the narrows, we turned towards the log booms outside our local mill. During the colder months of the year, we are lucky enough to have another species of sea lion, the California Sea Lion. These sea lions breed down in Californian waters during the summer months, with these sightings being some of our last before they begin to swim south in the coming weeks. These sea lions are smaller and sleeker than their cousins, the Steller Sea lions, with males getting to about 2.5m long and 400kg when fully grown. They are commonly seen hauled out on top of log booms, as was the case today. As we passed close by, you could hear their distinctive barking sounds and see them lounging along the logs in the sun.

After having our time with the California Sea Lions we neared the end of our time on the tour. Unfortunately, today was one of the few days we have where we didn’t see any species of whales. They are still wild animals and are not tracked in any way, so sometimes there may just be few whales in our area. However, as we pride ourselves on guaranteeing our guests see whales, the guests today did go home with a voucher which will allow them to go out again with us and give us another chance to show off the remarkable whales and other wildlife we have in our waters.

Please enjoy the photos taken throughout the tour by our onboard Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman and Evan Hessels, included below!

April 23, 2026 - Sea Lions, Seabirds, and Salish Sea Views.