Archive for May, 2011

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A harbor seal meal for many

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
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Wildlife galore today!  We departed Friday Harbor with a northbound heading: towards the sunshine.  We had quite a pleasant ride up into the waters of Canada, with a few gray harbor porpoises traveling with us and a silver harbor seal peering at us from the ocean.

Off in the distance, we spotted five vessels off Saltspring Island, Canada.  They appeared to be observing some transient killer whales.  As our boat–the Sea Lion–got closer, we were able to identify a large male orca with a hooked or oddly notched dorsal fin.  He was later identified as T87.  Other vessels identified his companions as “the T90s,” which would be T90 and a calf from 2005, T90B.  We did notice a calf with the group of five and thought that because of its small size it may be a calf younger than T90B.  The pod continued to zigzag around the boats and, at times, under the boats appearing on the other side of us after four to five minute down times.

Due to our distance covered, we had a long journey (with more wildlife to see) to get back to the harbor.  Along the way, we stopped off to see “transient orca food.”  Off Spieden island, we encountered about ten harbor seals, half of which were hauled out of the water on the rocks with the other half in the water each curled up in a U-shape trying to get their heads and fins out of the water to warm up.

Word from another vessel told us that close by there was a dead harbor seal with Bald Eagles foraging on its carcass.  Off we went!  Not too far from the live safe warming seals, we found the dead one.  At least four eagles were spotted in the trees and one bald eagle was at the carcass ripping shreds of meat off it!  No dead sea creature is wasted out here.

Along our final approach to Friday Harbor, we saw two more harbor porpoises and even in the harbor by our slip we saw another harbor seal.  Yup, another piece of potential transient orca food, but this one safely swimming about the harbor, foraging for its own meal.

Serena, Naturalist

San Juan Safaris

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Circumnavigating San Juan Island for Transients

Monday, May 30th, 2011
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It’s not too often we have the opportunity to circumnavigate San Juan Island; it usually isn’t terribly convenient for where we have to travel and the amount of time we have to do it in.  But today was the exception to the rule.

We got the call in early that there were orcas spotted off of Canada’s Discovery Island (just off of the southern tip of Vancouver Island) but that they may be headed out to sea.  So off we went, full boat and ready for wildlife viewing.  After traveling south from the island, past a swimming harbor seal and several logs, and around Cattle Point, we headed out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and eventually found our whales right where they were supposed to be: still off Discovery Island.  These orcas were in a pod of two and with the help of another whale watching vessel, they were identified at the transients T20 and T21.  T20 is a large male and T21 is a fairly large female, both estimated to be in their forties and known to travel together.  After twenty minutes of watching them zigzag with long down times, we got word of another species of whale in the area: a gray whale.

Five miles to the north, we saw a larger bushier blow (whale breath!) and eventually we saw the gray whale that belonged to that blow.  After a few more breaths from the whale, we headed off towards the north end of San Juan Island to continue our circle around it.  Along the way, we stopped by a lighthouse to see a Stellar sea lion trying desperately to balance is large body on the edge and out of the cold water.  All but its fins were dry.  It’s a good idea for this sea lion to stay as much out of the water as possible with transient killer whales around because he or she would make a nice meal for T20 and T21.

Serena, Naturalist

San Juan Safaris

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Hel-Lo L-pod!

Monday, May 30th, 2011
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On Sunday, May 29th we ventured out on two trips to accommodate all of our holiday weekend whale watchers.  And successful we were.

Headed northbound, we stopped by Spieden island to see the non-native Mouflon sheep and Sika and Fallow deer.  Further on, we saw several harbor seals and Stellar sea lions hauled out on the rocks warming up in the wonderful San Juan sunshine.  Off of bird rock, we saw a young bald eagle (no white-feathered head yet) perched two feet out of the water, either just finishing his fishing and drying off or waiting to strike something tasty.  On bird rock, we saw hundreds of cormorants sitting upon nests and rock ledges.

Out into the shipping lane known as Haro straight off the northwest side of San Juan Island, we discovered animals of a different caliber.  Spread out in four smaller groups we found about eleven animals identified as part of the resident group L-pod!  These animals were traveling south at a quick clip and as we watched them, we glanced several fins with one belonging to a small calf.  This was my first viewing of L-pod for this season!  As the seas got a little choppier and we began to run out of time, we made our turn back to Friday Harbor.  Along the way, we traveled through Mosquito Pass and saw the historic Roche harbor on the north side of the island.

Welcome back, L-pod!

Serena, Naturalist

San Juan Safaris

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Feasting Transients find Stellar Sea Lions

Saturday, May 28th, 2011
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Today was the first day of Memorial Day Weekend and we celebrated it by nearly filling both of our vessels, the Sea Lion and the Kittiwake, for an afternoon whale watch.  Throughout the day, the weather went from gray clouds and overcast to nice white fluffy clouds and sunshine.  We boarded the boats and left Friday Harbor heading north towards the Canadian border.  After an hour of solid travel, several sea birds, numerous islands and a swimming harbor seal, we edged up to East point off Saturna Island.  And there they were: a pod of transient orcas!

As we approached the area, we heard through the vessel radio grapevine that the pod may have made a recent Stellar sea lion kill.  When we got to the scene, the whales were zig-zagging and milling about; no obvious foraging activity was seen.  While observing the pod, we noticed a very large adult male dorsal fin that had significant lean to the left and was very curved for a male.  The other individuals in the pod appeared to be females and juveniles.  Later, another vessel identified one of the orcas as T18.

After ten minutes or so, the pod started traveling faster towards the south, moving more erratically and then thrashing about.  The hunt was on!  And it looked like another Stellar sea lion was the target.  We saw the pod of four orcas thrashing about, throwing their bloody red tasty morsel in the air.  At one point, it looked like the sea lion had gotten away and it made some headway with about forty feet of distance from the whales.  But then the transients caught up to their meal and continued thrashing and tossing it around.  Eventually, the male and a second orca split off from the other two, leaving the latter to contend with the sea lion.  Time was running out for our whale watch and we began making our way back to Friday Harbor.

All in all, quite an exciting day.  Seeing transient orca whales feed is never a boring event, especially with the thrashing, breaching and tossing of a bleeding sea lion in the air!

Serena, Naturalist

San Juan Safaris

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Possible post-hunt transients milling about off Saturna Island

Friday, May 27th, 2011
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After a night of rain, I woke up this morning to still more rain, as it sometimes goes here in Washington.  But as the day progressed, the weather got better and better.  By the time our departure time rolled around, it was looking pretty good and sunny out here in the San Juan Islands.  From Friday Harbor, we headed north with word and hope of possible whales up in Canada by Active Pass.

After an hour of searching and a pass by a few Stellar sea lions, we started to see vessels off the east side of Saturna Island.  Not far from those vessels were… five black dorsal fins belonging to five transient orca whales!  As we observed this pod, we noticed that all of the dorsal fins were crescent-moon shaped, each belonging to either a female or a juvenile (male or female) and one of these dorsal fins belonged to a very small orca: a baby.  Upon our first approach, we noticed several gulls circling overhead.  Had the pod just taken a harbor seal or Stellar sea lion, with the gulls scavenging for scraps?  We were still not certain.  The transient group began heading south and then north and then random circles, moving rapidly at first and then slowly.  The calf had a little fit of acting up somewhat with fluke up dives, head stands and a semi-spy hop with its head clearing the water.  As we ran out of time, the pod was still milling about and Bald Eagles were circling overhead.  The pod was identified by another vessel as the transient 100s.

On our return to the harbor, we had a little bit of time to stop by and see some Stellar sea lions and harbor seals hauled out basking themselves on the rocks.  A good day to dry off and warm up!  One large male was sitting up regally and vocalizing at a swimming sea lion and two more were play fighting in the water.  The harbor seals were napping and could not be bothered with the noisy gulls and sea lions.  If only they knew transients were in the area, would they be so content?

 

Serena, Naturalist

San Juan Safaris

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Transients up North

Thursday, May 26th, 2011
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We headed north with reports of Orca up near Pender Island.  By the time we were on the water about 30 minutes the next report came in that the whales were moving steadily north towards active pass.  We were committed to finding Orca for our passengers so we continued on.  As we reached active pass we slowed and tucked on the side as the big BC ferry came through.  While we waited for it to pass we were able to spot an eagle perched at the top of the highest tree.

We came around the corner and entered the pass and were lucky enough to spot the whales.  There were five transients cruising north.  After a few good looks we recognized a calf in the mix along with the big male T87.  We viewed the whales for about 20 minutes as they moved through the pass and turned to the west as the exited.  The passengers were in awe of the whales.  On the way home we stopped and saw some steller sea lions, lots of harbor seals, and a pair of bald eagles.  And the sun even came out!!

 

Mike – Naturalist

San Juan Safaris

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Rainy Day Whales

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
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I know I have said it before, but I will say it again.  I love rainy day whale watches.  Not the gross, windy, perfect storm kind of days, but the days when everything is still and calm and you can see every bird, porpoise, and seal within five miles of you.  Today was one of those days.  From the second the passengers set foot on the boat today it felt like it was going to be an adventure.  I got lots of questions within the first few minutes of the trip and learned that among the group we had some birders, seasoned whale watchers, and a few who were on their very first whale watching trip.

Passengers donned the foul weather gear and headed out to the rails with binoculars at the ready.  This was not your average group of whale watchers.  These were very hearty, very excited people.  We motored up President’s channel and out into Boundary Pass.  East Point came into view along with a giant dorsal fin.

We waited in the mist and 3 more whales came into view.  It was looking as though we had encountered a pod of Transient Orcas.  They were heading south so we turned around and headed south as well.  They were moving in a fairly straight line when suddenly they stopped, turned and started rolling and diving.  It looked as though a hunt had begun.  We couldn’t see much from the surface but a minute later the gulls moved in and swept the surface in search of scraps.

We continued along with the whales a while longer but eventually peeled off to leave them to their travels and search for other wildlife.  We stopped on the north side of Speiden to watch a bunch of Harbor Porpoise, Seals, and a couple of Bald Eagles.  Mouflon sheep and a Bald Eagle in flight topped it off for us and we headed in.

Gotta love the rainy days.
Laura, Naturalist

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T’s

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
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Today we saw two Transient Orcas way up on the west side of Pender Island.  One of them was a big male with a huge dorsal that we identified as T20.  He had one of the coolest, most unique fins I have seen so far.  With a couple of notches and a port-side lean, his dorsal was easy to ID even from several hundred yards away. The whales were milling, but, overall seemed mostly interested in moving south.

The trip up was Bald Eagle central, with the birds every couple hundred yards all along the shoreline.  There was even a pair sitting on the ground together in the Cactus Islands.

On our way home the sun had broken through the clouds and we stopped to look at a few dozen Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks near Sentinel Island and then took a look at a few Mouflon sheep grazing on the south side of Speiden.

It was a nice little Tuesday.

Laura, Naturalist

 

The other we were thinking might have been T21?

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Minke Extravaganza!

Monday, May 23rd, 2011
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Today we learned a very important lesson…

Minke Whales have TERRIBLE breath.

We headed south out of the harbor, went down through Cattle Pass and ended up at Hein Bank.  There were birds everywhere.  Always a good sign.  We stopped and waited to see what else might be enjoying the small bait fish.  Apparently nothing.

We continued on in a southerly direction and about ten minutes later saw a black body come briefly to the surface.  We stopped and waited for another surfacing.  Too sleek to be an Orca with a dorsal much too small.  Perhaps a Minke?  The whale was well over a quarter mile away so we continued on, slowly creeping forward, not wanting to interfere but hoping for a better look.

Surprise!  Suddenly a second Minke surfaced ahead of us.  Capt Craig put the boat into neutral and shut down the engines.  We watched the whale surface again and then dive in our direction.  We moved to the other side of the boat and waited in anticipation.  Nothing.  Then we noticed a light glow moving up our port side.  Just below the surface the Minke shot past like a torpedo and surfaced in front of us.

At first everyone was very polite, quietly eyeballing their fellow passengers to see who the offender could possibly be.  The stench was overwhelming.  In a moment it was gone, but returned the next time the Minke surfaced upwind of us.  A visible sigh of relief swept the boat as everyone realized it was coming from the whale.

We spent the next half hour watching the two Minkes gracefully swooping around the boat.  The weather was getting nicer and the sun was coming out.  The wind died down and it was quiet enough to hear the whales surface before we saw them.  Even their Minke stealth was no match for the glassy seas. We could see every ripple and every footprint they created.

Thus far my Minke encounters have mostly involved specks in the distance diving for long periods of time and then disappearing all together.  These two were surfacing every couple of minutes and were staying in a close enough proximity that we were able to sit with our engines off and watch their graceful maneuvers without ever moving.

We made on more stop on the way home for two Harbor Porpoises.  Again we shut the engines down and sat.  The two seemed surprisingly content and kept on foraging.  A handful of seals crept in toward us, eyeing us curiously with their big, brown eyes.  We saw a flurry of activity at the surface and one seal propelled itself toward a small fish, leaping out of the water to capture the miniature snack.

It was an extraordinary day that I firmly believe deserves the title “epic whale watch”.  They may not have been the whales we were expecting, but they gave us one of the very best whale watches of the season.

Coolest Minke Whales ever.

Laura,

Naturalist, San Juan Safaris

 

 

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Reflections of May

Monday, May 23rd, 2011
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I was thinking this morning about how amazing the last couple of weeks have been.  We have seen some amazing wildlife lately in this wonderful, productive sea and I just wanted to sum it all up and share.

In the past 3 weeks we have spent 6 days with Transient Orcas, 6 days with J pod, (1 day with J pod and a few K’s mixed in), 3 days with Minke Whales, 1 amazing day with unexpected Humpbacks, and a handful of days with charismatic Dall’s Porpoise.

We also took out one very successful birding charter and saw everything from a pair of Peregrine Falcons to a Bald Eagle eating a Gull in the water!

In the past 11 days alone we have seen whales every day (Orcas 10 of them, Minkes the other 1).  The season is just getting better and better!

I look forward to seeing what the rest of the month (and the summer) holds!

Laura, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris

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