Archive for October, 2009

So Long San Juans

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

This will be my last post of the season….we are now officially finished with all daily trips. My my how the summer has blown by! We’ll still be running whale watching & wildlife tours for the next 3 Saturdays of October…the 10th, 17th, & 24th.

A wonderful way to end my season out here with Orcas still in the waters! A bit of a breezy day with whitecaps and chop, the wind out of the north, and the crisp feeling of autumn in the air. The Orcas were first seen coming south from Henry Island in Haro Strait. We met them off of Eagle Point. They were very spread out, lots of foraging going on and very long dives of 5 or more minutes. A mix of Killer Whales today….members of J & K pod….with L87 apparently being out there as well. We left them as they continued to move offshore.

At least 2 dozen Steller Sea Lions were hauled out on Whale Rocks and a few of them letting out deep grunting roars. The clouds parted on our way in and Mt. Baker is looking fresh with new snow from the recent set of storms that passed through! What a sight. Just before arriving back to Friday Harbor, I sighted a Bald Eagle that was posted on the top of a tree on Turn Island. He or she suddenly took flight as if to grab a fish or prey from the water, hovering for minutes until finally looping back to its watch post in the treetop.

The San Juans are a very special place for me and it’s been a wonderful season!

Till next time,
Jaclyn, naturalist

San Juan Island near Seattle: Home to the Southern Resident Killer Whales

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Just Keep Swimming

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

All good things must come to an end and this is just about it. Today was our last weekday trip of the season. As of tomorrow, we will only be going out on Saturdays through the month of October and then we will be done for good. Do not despair though, the orcas will be back next season and so will we. In the meantime, here is the address of a blog that is both educational and entertaining and will satisfy your daily hunger for blog sustenance.

http://bitterendblog.com/

It is not the end just yet though, so as Dora from “Finding Nemo” sings, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming”. And swim we did today. Okay, so we were not the ones swimming, because that would have meant breaking the first rule on the boat. No Swimming. But the whales were swimming and we motored right along with them.

Capt. Craig made my opening monologue quite difficult today by constantly coming to the back of the boat from the wheel house to give us updates about the orcas, to point out a seal, and to point out that I had not yet gotten the fenders up. Well of course I hadn’t, he wouldn’t let me finish my speech so that I could. Finally we were on our way and there surely were whales. Just south of Kellett Bluff we met up with ~9 orcas traveling north. They were well spread out and simply swimming north with no other apparent goal in mind. We followed along with them for about an hour before turning toward Spieden Island and home.

With the orcas popping up in ones and twos at various distances from the boat, I was not able to identify many of them. We did get a great look at L87 “Onyx” though, and he appeared to be on a date with L77 “Matia”. Maybe there will be another new L baby. It was a special time spent with the orcas and we saw several eagles, as well as lots of animals on Spieden Island. But, the big highlight for me was when a peregrine falcon swooped past the M/V Sea Lion chasing after seagulls. The gulls were doing everything that they could to stay out of the peregrine’s talons and while we were there none of them became dinner. It was a very climactic ending to our trip and helped to cap a most excellent summer spent on the water here in the San Juan Islands.

So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you excited by the wonders of nature, thank you and we will…

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

San Juan Island near Seattle: Home to the Southern Resident Killer Whales

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Thursday, October 1st, 2009

With the whale watching season slowing down, Captain Craig and I were racking our brains for boats that may be going out to try and view the orcas. As we were boarding the boat, Captain Craig informed us that while I was gathering the guests he had heard word of Transient orcas off of Victoria. However, there were also small craft warning in the Haro Strait.

Captain Craig decided to head north around the island and than make a decision once we rounded Henry Island. Once we hit Kellet Bluff, off of Henry Island, we decided to GO FOR IT and hightailed it toward Victoria.

We crashed and thrashed through 1-3 foot swells – all of the guests were luckily up for the adventure. We caught up with three transients (T10, T10B and one I couldn’t ID) by Trial Island off of Victoria. We followed them into the Haro Strait, where they went this way and that. Although transients are often harder to view then the residents, our boat was lucky to get some fantastic views of these three animals. I love seeing transients and was ecstatic to see orcas on my last day aboard the MV Sea Lion this season!

Until next season!
Ashley, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

San Juan Island near Seattle: Home to the Southern Resident Killer Whales

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