California Sea Lion
Posts Tagged ‘Harbor Porpoise’
A Warm Spring Day of Whale & Wildlife Watching from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
Sunday, April 22nd, 2012Residents can be very vocal. No vocalizations today – we dropped the hydrophone three separate times.
Naturalist, Colleen Johansen
Breathtaking Wildlife Day From Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
Saturday, April 21st, 2012Breathtaking Wildlife Day From Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
We departed Friday Harbor under clear, sunny, 60-ish degree skies.
Right off the bat, near Shaw Island, Captain Craig found 2 CALIFORNIA Sea Lions hanging out on a bright red buoy. It is not that frequent that we see the California sea lions around here. Off we went heading north.
Since there have been several transient orca whale sightings in Canadian waters as of late, we felt this was our best chance at whales. A few Harbor Porpoise showed themselves. near Stuart Island – weaving amongst the 10 inch waves.
And to Canada we did go. We went all the way to Mandarte Island – known for its bird population. There were conventions of Cormorants. They were iridescent with spring plumage. And plenty of gulls – several variety.
We then headed back in to U.S waters near Stewart Island, Turn Point - the northern most point in the lower states. In these waters we were greeted by several Dahl’s Porpoise who not only rode our boat wake but swam around and around us. One Dahl’s continued to stay with us long after all the rest had scattered.
We had six birders aboard with us today. And we did not disappoint. Not in any particular order today we saw: 2 bald eagles, one each in separate places, a Belted Kingfisher inches above the water fishing, a Rhinoceros Auket (a guest spotted it) a Western Grebe (Naturalist Kathy spotted it) Harlequin Ducks (again a guest spotted) a Red Neck Grebe (that was MY spot) a group of Pigeon Guillemonts (my spot again) and a few more that I now cannot remember.
On our way back home we swung past the south end of Speiden island where 14 – 1500 Stella Sea Lion were worshiping the sun. Then in a place we normally would not see porpoise, between San Juan Island & Shaw Island, a hawk-eyed guest spotted about three harbor porpoise (BRAVO – good spotting!)
Sorry you were not with us today . . . but we are going out again tomorrow.
Over and out for now,
Naturalist, Colleen Johansen
San Juan Safaris Whale Watch & Willdife oh and Birding Tours
I tried to trace the path of our trip on this map. I am sure I’ll hear something from Capt. Craig.
April 21, 2012 tour route, approximate
Sunny skies, calm seas
Saturday, April 14th, 2012Excited by an early morning report that a large number of Orcas had been sighted off Cattle Point on San Juan Island, we could not wait to get out on the water at noon. Heading north in San Juan Channel, our first stop was at Yellow Island to check out a healthy number of Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks. Next stop, Green Point at Speiden Island, where more than a few mammoth Stellar Sea Lions dove and rolled on all sides of the boat. Several Harbor Porpoises surfaced long enough for a quick look as we passed Speiden, en route to Stuart Island. Bald Eagles were sighted, either soaring overhead, or posed in treetops. Easy cruising under clear skies and calm seas, but no whales.
After cruising around Stuart Island, we headed over to Canadian waters to check out the Cormorant rookery on Mandarte Island. Saw both Brandt’s and Pelagic Cormorants sitting on nests and a lone sentry Canada Goose on top of the rock. Hearing reports of Dalls Porpoises, we headed back into Haro Strait to catch a quick glimpse of one between Gooch Island and Turn Point, Stuart Island. Cruising along the west side of Spieden Island gave us a good look at the monumental number of newborn baby Mouflon Sheep scattered all over the steep, grassy sides. Another last look at the Stellar Sea Lions surfing in the currents off Green Point, then we turned for home. Although the whales eluded us today, it was a priceless day in the San Juan Archipelago — warm, sunny, spring-weather, a calm sea, and a plethora of Bald Eagles, Pinnipeds, Porpoises, and Pelagic birds.
Naturalists Shelly and Kathy
Friday September 30
Friday, September 30th, 2011The last two days could have gone either way. The morning whale reports had residents near Hein Bank, possibly heading out to the Pacific. But like yesterday, the animals turned around and made their way back towards San Juan Island. We found some members of K pod swimming steadily in Haro Strait as the clouds finally cleared. We hung out with a few different groups of 4-5 whales, but could see animals spread out in every direction!
On the way home we stopped near Whale Rocks and showed our passengers the large Steller Sea Lions that seemed to have doubled in numbers over the last few days! To top it off we also encountered Dall’s Porpoise and some really playful Harbor Porpoise in San Juan Channel!
Mike
Sassy juveniles
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011Another fabulous day.
Our first stop was for a few Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks. Our second stop was for the ever elusive Harbor Porpoise. It was one of the few times that I have seen a large number of them, too preoccupied while hunting, to care that we were watching. Most of the time all we see is a little black blip at the surface and have to spend the next several minutes trying to convince passengers that the blip was actually a porpoise. Today everyone got to see one up close. Capt. Mike shut down and we sat in the calmest water imaginable watching no less than 10 porpoise cruising around us. When we finally left them we continued on south toward Cattle Point. We stopped for a couple of gregarious Steller’s Seal Lions and then ventured out into the straight. L Pod was pretty much at South Beach when we first came upon them. They were spread out over a tremendous area. Once again the calm water made for easy identification of the saddle patch.
Among the first whales we saw were L2, L79, L72, and later L41 (Mega-my favorite).
We also had an amazing encounter with two juvenile whales who shot up, out of nowhere, in front of the boat, while we were shut down and proceeded to swim laps around us while we watched in amazement. The water was calm and clear and we could see the white flash from their bellies as they scooted in past us in a blur and then darted out to regroup before doing it again. In my whole summer out here I have not seen behavior like that from orca whales until today. Orcas may pop up near a boat and pass by at close proximity, but it is always with an air of dignity, as though they are on a mission and could care less about boat or the people on it. They always keep their composure and when they do let loose a little it is typically in the company of other orcas with boats watching from afar. Today was different. There was no breaching or rolling upside-down. No tail slapping or lollygagging at the surface. These two little guys were behaving, totally and completely, like a couple of hooligans. It was awesome. Even Capt Mike had to leave the wheelhouse and squeeze up to the railing to get a better view. It was one of those exceptional moments that makes you want to do a fist pump and yell, “Yessss!”
Laura, Naturalist
Gorgeous, Gorgeous….
Monday, September 19th, 2011I thought yesterday was one of the calmest days we have seen this season, but I was wrong. It was today. We found some Orcas outside of Cattle Pass towards Hein Bank. The first animal we got a good look at was L41. He was generally traveling South, but not with any speed. So we had some fun times hanging out with him.
After a little bit we headed farther north and came across a lot more of L41′s family. They seemed to be mostly milling and resting, but after about 10 minutes of swimming in circles one of them breached unexpectedly. That seemed to motivate the rest of the group to start tail slapping and spy hopping. To end the encounter one of the smaller animals had a nice breach right in our passengers line of sight.
On the way home we stopped for the Steller’s around Whale Rocks, and just as we were entering the harbor we were able to shut down the engines and let a nice pod of Harbor Porpoise swim right past us!
Mike
Naturalist – San Juan Safaris
You Name It, We saw It
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011Summer seems to have left the islands as quickly as it arrived, but the animals are still around! We headed out in to Haro Strait this afternoon and came across a group of Transient Orca. The Residents haven’t been seen in a day or two, but the Transients were a great encounter. The mature male of the group had a huge dorsal fin which gave our passengers a very big target to photograph.
On the way home we added another cetacean to our check list when we came across a nice group of Dall’s Porpoise. They weren’t too interested in the boat but just slowly meandered along as we got a few good looks. After leaving the Dall’s we encountered a large bird ball that gave us high hopes for finding a Minke Whale. Sure enough after a few patient minutes we had one surface a few times near the group of birds.
To end the day we stopped at Whale Rocks to get some looks at the large Steller Sea Lions both on the rocks and in the water, as well as harbor seals. Finally a few harbor porpoise popped up long enough for everyone to see as we were all looking at a Bald Eagle perched on Lopez!
Mike
Naturalist – San Juan Safaris
Aloha Hello Minkes, Aloha Good-Bye Pacific Northwest
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011Ok, readers, today was my last day of the season out on the water in the Pacific Northwest and we were duly rewarded with wonderful sea conditions and one of the ocean underdogs: Minke Whales! Sure, it was a little overcast but the sea responds well to this. As we made our way out from the harbor and towards Cattle Pass, we saw twenty to thirty harbor porpoises and numerous swimming harbor seals and steller sea lions. We even saw a bald eagle–my first in about two weeks! Passengers were constantly on the lookout for appearing and disappearing wildlife as we watched six to eight steller sea lions pop up and disappear off Whale Rocks.
Just between Whale Rocks and Salmon Bank, as we headed out, Naturalist Laura spotted a small–juvenile–minke whale being very surface active. This minke was not foraging under the usual cloud of swarming sea birds, but rather finding its own dinner. A little further out we saw two more minkes and continued to watch them in the flat calm perfect conditions that the Salish Sea rarely doles out. They were hanging out with hundreds of sea birds and a few hungry seals.
Hoping to see a glimpse of the orcas, we continued around San Juan Island with a jaunt through Mosquito Pass by Roche Harbor and a stop for some young harbor seals at Sentinel Island. We even checked out the strange wildlife at Spieden Island, finding many mouflon sheep that appeared to already have their darker winter coats. Two adult bald eagles and a juvenile all sharing a salmon on the shore topped off our adventures. Time for me to migrate myself… Back to Maui!
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Seal-links
Monday, September 5th, 2011Today was a day of lots and lots of harbor seals! Everywhere! And many of them were lined up like sausage links! Transient orca sausage links!
We first went north towards Waldron Island and found them basking on a nearby rock. Next, we went further north into Canadian waters and found them off of Saturna Island where five of them were lined up in a row. Out by Sentinel Island, we found another thirty or so, with about six babies hauled out along the shoreline in their little “nursery” area. And we even saw several swimming through the many channels we traveled through on our wildlife safari.
But it wasn’t all seal sausages today. We also saw the elusive harbor porpoises off of Turn Point on Stuart Island, the most northwestern point in the continental US! They were milling about and surfacing at random.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
The southern residents are baaack!
Saturday, September 3rd, 2011With two full boats, we headed up north across the border and into Canadian waters, all in search of the Southern Resident Killer Whales that had been out to sea (to the best of our knowledge) for a few days. We ended up in the Strait of Georgia, just south of the city of Vancouver, when a passenger tapped me on the shoulder and said, “look, there!” And there they were! Orcas spanning over a quarter of a mile were lined up in smaller groups and heading north. As we paralleled them for a while, we were able to identify J-27, “Blackberry,” as one of the more recently-matured whales of the community. He had a juvenile–possibly his little brother “Mako”–and two females and/or larger juveniles. The orcas engaged in just about every surface behavior they have in their repertoire, from tail slapping to spy hopping to even breaching, it was all there! After our long journey north, we eventually did have to depart and head back to Friday Harbor but along the way we got a glimpse of some napping harbor seals and some porpoising harbor porpoises (yes, a verb AND a noun!). Welcome back, resident orcas!
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris