Posts Tagged ‘friday harbor’
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
AMAZING views of transient orcas today! Captain Mike, myself, and the passengers aboard our sunset tour were rewarded with a multitude of spectacular sightings right outside Friday Harbor. It didn’t take us long to meet up with the same transients we left during our 1:30 trip since they had moved further north in our absence.
With the sun setting at our backs, we were able to coast alongside the transients as they went about their foraging behavior. Transient orcas are marine mammal-eating only, and have an affinity for harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and the occasional Steller sea lion. With the large quantities of harbor seals and porpoises in the area, it wasn’t surprising that it didn’t take them long to find what they were looking for. And boy were we lucky enough to witness the efficiency of these animals as they hunted!
With only a few other boats around, we were able to shut off our motors and just sit in silence as we observed wildlife in action. Generally transients are quiet to avoid being detected by their prey, but today we were rewarded with a wide range of vocalizations in their celebration of catching dinner. In addition to all the great vocalizations, the transients did not disappoint to display an array of aerial behaviors. Between the constant breaching, tail slaps, and occasional barrel roll, none of our passengers walked away without a spectacular photograph to share with family and friends back home. Overall, it was an amazing day on the water and not one that anyone will forget any time soon.
Caitlin, Naturalist- M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Foraging, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoises, Harbor Seals, san juan island, stellar sea lions, Transients, Vocalizations
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Monday, June 17th, 2013
Today we left Friday Harbor with a full boat of eager passengers who were determined to see some Orcas, and L Pod did not let them down! Captain Mike, Naturalist Andrew, and myself, did not have to go far to encounter L Pod stretched out along south end of San Juan Island. We stayed with a subgroup of L Pod hanging around Salmon Bank for the majority of the trip. This proved to be an excellent decision when a group of females and juvenile males repeatedly displayed breaches, tail slaps, and even the occasional barrel roll!
L Pod consists of 39 individual and they all seemed to be out and about today. Only L87 was missing, who seems to have done a switch-a-roo and is commonly seen swimming alongside Granny, our 102 year old J Pod member.
Since the Orcas were out in full and dispersed along the horizon, it gave passengers aboard the M/V Sea Lion an excellent opportunity to see panoramic views of our resident pod! I don’t think that it hurt to have glassy water and brilliant blue skies to add to the trips overall success. Looking forward to another great day on the water tomorrow!
Caitlin, Naturalist- M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Castle Rock, friday harbor, Granny, j pod, L pod, L87, Residents, Salmon Bank
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Sunday, June 16th, 2013
We headed South today from our Friday Harbor location and into the San Juan Channel where we promptly had to do a “man overboard” drill to retrieve one of our customers hats! The hat flew off and into the water, at which point Captain Mike swiftly turned the boat around and Caitlin and I retrieved the water-logged hat! Sometimes, we start out with a little excitement right in the very beginning! We’ll always go out of our way to make sure we still have smiling faces aboard!
After the excitement with the hat, we headed out through Cattle Pass and into the Haro Strait in hopes of finding our Transient friends. Transient killer whales are our mammal hunting killer whales as opposed to our Resident Orcas which only eat Salmon.
We found our Transient killer whales traveling together in a group of 6 swimming at about 10 knots! The whales we encountered were the same T-65 group that we have been seeing over the past week. These guy’s were heading south and doing so pretty fast; they seemed to have an agenda of their own! We got some great views of their grey saddle patch and sharp, pointed dorsal fins while they were porpoising out of the water.
After watching the whales for quite some time, we headed back for Friday Harbor. On our way back we were able to see a Bald Eagle pair and their nest as well ass some Harbor Seals. The harbor seals were hauled out on the rocks, which is probably the safest place for them while our Transients are in the water! Another great day of whale watching!
Heather, Naturalist, Seal Lion
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, Resident Orcas, San Juan Channel, Transient Killer Whales
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Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Today was a great day for watching our mammal hunting transient killer whales! We left our Friday Harbor location in hopes of encountering these majestic whales along the way and were pleased when we found them! The stakes were high, I had already seen this same small pod of transients kill a harbor seal days before and hoped this trip would be just as good; I wasn’t let down! These whales seemed to be on a course of their own as they surfaced about 3 feet from our boat and proceeded to go around our boat equally as close. It was an amazing experience, once which both myself and our guests will surely never forget. I’m pretty sure everyone got some whale breath on them too!!
During our viewing of T-65 and her Pod, we also saw Harbor Porpoise which were conventionality and speedily heading in the other direction as our mammal hunting whales. I think it’s safe to say they were “running for their life”!
On our way home we got a fantastic look at some Harbor Seals and pups hauled out on the rocks. Harbor Seal females will actually develop a strong bond with her pups but wean them rather abruptly after 3-5 weeks of birth. It’s a rough life for a Harbor Seal pup! I say this just about every time, but I love my job! Nothing beats seeing wildlife like that every day in their natural environment. I’m pretty sure Captain Mike and Naturist Caitlin feel the same way! I’m so glad we could share that experience with our guest!
Heather, Naturalist, Sea Lion
Tags: friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, Harbor Seal Pup, Transitent Whales
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Wednesday, June 12th, 2013
Working on a tip from other whale watching boats, Captain Mike, Naturalists Andrew and Heather, and a hopeful crew, departed the Friday Harbor docks and set course for the northeast tip of Orcas Island. I made it known to our guests that we were embarking on a unique cruise. The majority of the time, the M/V “Sea Lion” explores the west side of the San Juan Islands, as the southern resident killer whale pods are known to focus their activity there. But two days ago, the resident orcas vanished from the Salish Sea. Since then our focus has turned to other whales that may remain in the area. Yesterday it was minke whales, today it was transient killer whales.
We caught up with the orcas on the north side of Orcas Island, an area with sweeping views of steep-sided Lummi Island and the remote, lesser-known islands marking the southern extent of the vast Strait of Georgia. Against this backdrop we watched a group of 5 killer whales hunting. Noticing their change of behavior, we decided to try deploying our hydrophone and were rewarded with some eerie and beautiful vocalizations.
Before we turned the team, we took the opportunity to check Puffin Island for…puffins. These iconic seabirds once nested here in numbers, but have all but disappeared from the inland waters over the last decade. There were no puffins to be seen today; however, a stately mating pair of bald eagles and abundant harbor seals made it worth the detour. We finished off the trip by completing our scenic circumnavigation of Orcas Island.
Andrew, Naturalist (M/V Sea Lion), San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, killer whale, orca, orcas island, Puffin Island, san juan island, Strait of Georgia
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Monday, June 10th, 2013
Captain Mike, Andrew and myself left our Friday Harbor location today and headed south through the San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass where we hoped to encounter some great whale activity. Along the way we stopped to say “hello” to my favorite small critters that are known to inhabit the Salish Sea: Harbor Seals. The harbor seals thrive on our large tidal difference here which create the upwellings they navigate through to hunt. Their whiskers on the front of their face are specially designed to help them hunt; they have nerve endings in them! They will use their large whiskers as “feelers” to explore anything foreign or unfamiliar. It’s always fun to see our seals forging in the water.
We cursed through Cattle pass and encountered a Minke whale foraging off the coast of False Bay. Minke whales are actually the smallest whale in the baleen family averaging a size of 25-30 feet long (about the size of an Orca). We hung out with our Minke friend for a while and enjoyed some great views during that time.
We also saw many Harbor Porpoise on the South side of San Juan Island in the Haro Straight. I always love it when we are able to shut our motor off and listen to the blow of the marine wildlife we are seeing. In the case of the Harbor Porpoise, they are actually quite shy; therefore, shutting our boat off give’s us a better chance of experiencing these animals and their behavior.
While we didn’t see our famous killer whales today, we saw a lot of wildlife and had a great day on the water! Just yesterday we were able to watch our killer whales but they can travel up to 100 miles in a day and were gone for our tour. We had lots of children on board today, their extra enthusiasm about all things small and large was both invigorating and helpful while pointing out all of the other wildlife to be seen in the San Juan Islands! All in all, we had a great day on the water!
Heather, Naturalist, Sea Lion
Tags: Cattle Pass, False Bay, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Haro Staight, killer whale, minke whales, orca, salish sea, San Juan Channel
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Saturday, June 8th, 2013
Unlike yesterdays tumultuous seas, it was a rather pleasant day on the water. The sun came out, and was quickly followed by sightings of J Pod. Soon after heading north out of Friday Harbor, we met up with Granny of J Pod, near Open Bay. Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin, Naturalist Heather, and myself stuck around to watch Granny for a bit, but she was foraging at a brisk pace so we decided to check out some of her more playful family members further south.
Once we got closer, we were in for quite the show with a plethora of behaviors. There was tail slapping, breaching, and lots of spy hopping! Although as whale watchers and avid photographers it’s great to see these animals jumping and splashing around, it’s important to remember that all those behaviors are tools that Orcas use to forage for their food source. Whether it be tail slapping or breaching, Orcas can use those techniques to corral salmon into tight balls, or ‘bait balls’, to make their food easier to manage. Today we also got to see J pod utilizing the deep waters right off the coast of Kellets Bluff to potentially back salmon up against the coastline. It was amazing opportunity to see the intelligence and efficiency of these animals while foraging! Can’t wait to see what our Naturalists will see next on our sunset whale watching tour today!
Caitlin, Naturalist M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Chinook Salmon, friday harbor, j pod, L pod, Open Bay, Resident Orcas, sea lion
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Wednesday, June 5th, 2013
Heading out of Friday Harbor, we zipped out towards Salmon Bank, where reports of J Pod and a few L’s were hanging out. Captain Jim and myself were able to make great time out to the whales since we were riding out in style in the Kittiwake, our original San Juan Safaris boat! Kittiwake is a great boat to get a very personalized and scenic view of the whales. This trip only emphasized that point. Our guests, along with the crew, were extremely surprised when Blackberry, J-27, and a few others from J pod, popped up right next to our boat! J Pod seemed to be moving steadily northwards but made a quick underwater change of direction. It’s difficult to say what exactly caused this sudden change in direction, but it is possible they were on the prowl for their favorite food source, Chinook salmon. What ever the reason, this was a first time sighting of Orcas for our out of town guests, and I don’t think it could have gone any better! Overall, today was a success with great sightings and great company.
Caitlin, Naturalist- Kittiwake, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Chinook Salmon, friday harbor, j pod, Kittiwake, L pod, Resident Orcas, Salmon Bank
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Tuesday, June 4th, 2013
Another wonderful day on the water! Sun was out and it was HOT. Captain Mike, Naturalist Emily, and myself went south out of Friday Harbor and then steadily made our way north along the west side of San Juan Island. While meandering along the west side, we first encountered a large group of bobbing seals in the water. After sitting in silence for a bit we realized our boat was surrounded by harbor seals! It was great to see them enjoying the crisp 46 degree waters.
After saying goodbye to our harbor seal friends, we headed further North along the west side of the island where we met up with multiple smaller groups of J Pod. Coasting alongside them we were able to get great looks at Blackberry, Onyx, and even Granny! Granny is clocked in at 102 years old, our oldest Orca in this area. Orcas have a very similar lifespan as humans; reaching maturity at 13-14 yrs of age and averaging 80 yrs old. Pretty impressive! Looking forward to another warm and sunny day on the water, especially with great sightings of Orcas!
Caitlin, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Blackberry, friday harbor, Granny, j pod, Lime Kiln Whale Watching Park, Onyx, Orcas, san juan island
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Monday, June 3rd, 2013
Leaving Friday Harbor we headed towards the west side of San Juan Island where, Captain Mike and myself, met up with a few members of L Pod. We were able to cruise up the west side of the island and get great looks at some of the mature males of L Pod such as Mega, Solstice, Mystery, Skana, and Spirit! The west side is an excellent region to spot Orcas because of the high density of salmon coming through that area.
On our way back towards Friday Harbor we took a small detour over Salmon Bank where we also spotted a lone Minke whale! Although these whales can often times be pretty quick to disappear because of their non-fluking behavior and impressive speeds, we were able to get 3 great looks at this whale when it surfaced near our vessel.
If getting great looks at these two different types of whales wasn’t enough, we also got to enjoy whale watching with great weather! Blue skies galore! Hoping the next few days are as awesome as today.
Caitlin, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: friday harbor, L pod, Minkes, Salmon Bank, West Side
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