Posts Tagged ‘Haro Strait’
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Yes, we saw orca whales today on the 2nd of October – late in the whale watching season. We took off from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island heading north toward Spieden Island. As we neared Speiden, one of the guests spotted a large brown head which turned out to be a great big stellar sea lion fishing by himself. We stayed on the south side of Speiden and Shelly spotted a mature bald eagle up in a tree. Down below the Mouflon Sheep and Sitka Deer were roaming about.
We pushed on to Haro Strait and started south down Henry Island to the west side of San Juan Island. We were a bit south of Kellet’s Buff and north of Lime Kiln Point when orca whales came into view. It was part of L pod that we were viewing. We sat for about 40 minutes watching the orca pursuing fish. Surfacing for air, switching directions back and forth the whales this up the entire time we sat there. Capt. Mike put down the hydrophone and there was some whale calls that could be heard. Light calling – not a lot.
As we headed further south on the west side, some Dall’s porpoise started riding our bow. Brief, but what a treat. As the water was gliding I by, I screamed out “loon!” and sure enough it was. Then at the southern tip of the island I spotted a BROWN Pelican in a raft of sea birds. Brown pelican may be common where you are from, but they are a bit of a rarity here in the islands. Near Lopez Island, we stopped at a large rock outcropping to view at least 30 stellar sea lion, what seemed like hundreds of cormorants and gulls. One could definitely smell these animals prior to actually seeing them.
What made this trip so enjoyable for me was that every guest on the boat seemed interested in anything Shelly or I could tell them about the area, birds, trees and wildlife.
This is the last daily tour of the season for us and what a trip it was.
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, L pod, Lopez Island, Mouflon Sheep, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, salish sea, san juan island, seattle whale watching, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Spieden Island, Steller\'s Sea Lion, Strait of Juan de Fuca, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
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Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
We only have a few more trips left in our season up here, but the whales don’t know that. Today we found members of our resident pods K and L, almost 50 whales, spread out in Haro Strait heading up to Turn Point. We were able to identify K20 (possibly with a new calf? yet to be confirmed), L87, L41, L88, and K40. We got to see a wide range of behaviors and all our passengers were very excited.
On the way home we stopped along Spieden and saw many harbor seals on the rocks, as well as four-legged mammals grazing on the hillside including some bucks and a few rams. The icing on the cake was the Bald Eagle standing on the shore line with a salmon in its talons, and a handful of Steller Sea Lions lazing in the water at Green Point.
Mike
Naturalist
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, K Pod, L pod, orca whales, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Spieden Island
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Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
I feel like we have had a lot of great trips this summer and have been luck so far in September with a fairly high percentage of whale sightings. Of all the trips we have had since we started in April there are a handful that stick out vividly in my memory as exceptional. Today might have trumped them all.
The one nice thing about this cloudy weather is that it is glassy, flat, and the flat light makes for easy spotting. We left the harbor today and headed north. Half way up the San Juan Channel we encountered Dall”s Porpoise. They were in a good mood and stayed nearby, bow riding and surfing our wake for several minutes. Out in front of us a little seal popped up with a fat salmon in his mouth. As we were leaving the Dall’s we saw what looked to be at first a large Stellar’s Sea Lion, then as we shifted our vantage point resembled a piece of driftwood, but eventually moved to reveal that it was, in fact, a large male ELEPHANT SEAL! What? Here? Yes. The large, protruding nose was a dead giveaway. He was rather shy and slipped below the surface, not to be seen by us again.
We headed out the Speiden channel into Haro Straight. As soon as we got into Haro we could see blows, and dorsal fins, and more dorsal fins. It was so flat that we could see for miles and we could tell that there were whales in every direction for miles. We were the only boat with the J pod trailers. We shut down and watched a small group composed of J16, J26, and J42 and 36. They looked to be just traveling. There were no long dives and their pace was slow and steady. We could hear each and every breath from whales near and far away from us. A single female surfaced off our other side and we watched her glide gracefully past us. There were so many whales in all directions that we dropped our hydrophone to take a listen. It was amazing. It was as if we had stepped into the middle of a crowded party. It was so calm that we could even hear echolocation clicks. While we were sitting, watching, and listening to the orcas something big exploded to the surface about a quarter of a mile away from us. It was like watching a submarine shooting to the surface. It happened two more times. In that time I was able to gather my wits and identify the large, torpedo-like object as a breaching Minke Whale. I have never seen a Minke breach before. It was awesome!
On our way back in we saw Harbor Seals, land mammals on Speiden Island and another Dall’s Porpoise that surfaced off our bow with a loud exhalation that made me jump in surprise.
You know it is a good day when your passengers just giggle the whole time. You know it is a really good day when your captain calls his friends to tell them he just saw a breaching Minke and your naturalist needs to take a time out because she is in total sensory overload. Today was that day. Amazing.
Laura, Naturalist
Tags: Haro Strait, j pod, K Pod, minke whale, Mouflon Sheep, Orca whale, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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Monday, September 12th, 2011
We had a beautiful blustery day today heading south out of Friday Harbor. After hearing reports of whales south west of San Juan and heading further SW we blazed on out off of Hein Bank! We were kindly greeted by a group of 10-12 traveling Orcas, all members of L-Pod. Having a wonderful photographer on board we were able to document and identify several of the whales we watched! Baba (L-26), Crewser (L-92), Ballena (L-90), Wave Walker (L-88), and the large male known as Gaia (L-78). It’s always so amazing when you are able to identify these animals; we are able to tell who is who by the unique shape of their saddle patch (the white patch underneath their dorsal) and dorsal fin. Once we have identified individuals in the pod we are able to show passengers how each of these L-pod members are related with our matriline catalogs, it’s very often that these animals travel and are sighted in groups that they are most closely related to.
Making our way back towards Friday Harbor we came across a very large group of stellar sea lions all hauled out and sunbathing on ‘Whale Rock’, with a smaller group of harbor seals hanging on the other side. So cool to see the HUGE size distinctions between these two species! Little harbor seal heads continued to pop out of the water all around our boat as we headed on in from this amazing day out on the water.
Alex
San Juan Safaris
Naturalist
Tags: friday harbor, Haro Strait, L pod, Orca whale, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Thursday brought blue skies and calm seas. However, there were no reports of anyone seeing any Orcas in the Salish Sea. So we took the best lead we had and headed towards Victoria to try and find the elusive Humpback Whale.
On the way out we encountered lots of harbor seals bobbing in the tide and even a couple bald eagles soaring above the south end of the island. After those encounters we motored across Haro Strait toward Victoria. The last reports we heard were of two animals that had just ‘fluked up’ and gone for a deeper dive. So we slowly moved into the area, turned off the engines, and waited.
After only a few short minutes we had two mature Humpbacks surface not far from the boat side by side. We watched as they each took a few breathes, spouting about 15 feet in the air, and then getting great shots of a double fluke as the dove again. We repositioned the boat and waited for the next surfacing. As we scanned all the around, I heard passengers from another boat gasp in excitement and I turned just in time to see both Humpbacks completely breach out of the water!! Our other boat, the Sea Lion, was between us and the whales, but one of the Humpbacks got so much air that I could see it over the top of the other boat. It was Incredible! Humpbacks are some of my favorite whales in the world.
After all that excitement we headed towards home and found a giant male Steller Sea Lion hauled out on the rocks. Every day is different, and every day is a Safari!
Mike
Captain – San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, Humpback Whale, Steller\'s Sea Lion
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Monday, August 1st, 2011
Today, even the Kittiwake had an adventure! We traveled over to Orcas Island to pick up a family of ten for a private charter and from there on, we were surrounded by a continuous showing by Pacific Northwest wildlife!
First, it was a little harbor seal between Lopez and Shaw Islands. Next, it was one then two stellar sea lions (BIG ones too–they can weigh up to 2,200 pounds and be ten feet long!) swimming in the currents between Lopez and San Juan Islands. Further into the Cattle Pass, we discovered two bald eagles perched side by side above a water-front home.
Out into the waters off Salmon bank, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Haro straight meet, we found exactly what we were still holding our breaths for: L-pod of the Southern Resident Killer Whales! The pod was spread out near and off shore and from Cattle Pass up towards False Bay. It was every whale for itself, with a few being social and in pairs and trios. Some seemed to be traveling, others hunting and one frisky pair may have been mating (was he an outsider from J or K pod?). They were heading south but after thirty minutes of viewing, they all of a sudden went offshore and started traveling north. At this point we decided to test our wildlife luck and moved on away from the orcas.
The visibility was excellent (we could see Mount Rainier and Mount Baker!), the wind was a mellow breeze and the ocean was flat: a rare and perfect combination for Minke whale searching! We found “bird balls” (high densities of birds sitting on the water, potentially on a ball of bait fish like herring). One bird ball took off all at once and minutes later, we found out why: a minke whale had come in to eat their herring! We watched it for about twenty minutes and then moved on.
On the way back to Orcas Island, the wildlife continued to appear! More stellar sea lions and harbor seals swimming and sunning at Whale Rocks; and our finale of harbor porpoises between Lopez and San Juan Islands. Whew, we were exhausted after that (as evident by the six passengers–teenagers–napping on the ride back in)! A truly wonderful day on the water. Big thanks to the Lower family!
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, Cattle Pass, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Haro Strait, L pod, Lopez Island, minke whale, orca whales, orcas island, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Stellar sea lion, Strait of Juan de Fuca
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Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
O Canadaaaa, you have the resident orcas in your waters and we are coming to see them! North out of the harbor, past Yellow Island (hello, plump harbor seals!), along Spieden Island (any Mouflon sheep?), around Flattop Island, across to Waldron Island (shy harbor porpoises) and across the Haro Strait (and the US/Canadian border) to Saturna Island. And what did we find? The largest of the dolphin (odontocete) species: killer whales!
Upon arriving to the scene, passengers saw three whales off our port, with another one off our bow and more coming from the east at our starboard. A large male was swimming behind us about 5oo yards in the shipping channel. He seemed to be the one to rev things up in the pod; this male gave two full clear-the-water breaches before resorting to some tail slaps as a tanker ship was about to pass through southbound. Word in the pod must have spread that it was active time, and multiple orcas–including several precocious calves–began breaching, tail slapping, peduncle throwing and upside down tail slapping repeatedly. And then again. And then some more! This continued for at least thiry minutes and was still going on intermittently when we had to leave for home port. Our hydrophone (underwater microphone) indicated that it was a very spread out and vocal resident whale (salmon-loving/eating) pod.
Along the way home, we spotted four bald eagles; one came flying down for the classic fish-grab-with-talons-out but at the last minute decided not to. Did his fish food item dive out of sight or did it not measure up as a worthy meal?
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, Orcas, san juan island, Saturna Island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Spieden Island
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Thursday, July 7th, 2011
Our journey out of Friday Harbor started out a bit blustery and bumpy, but we soon discovered it did not scare off any of the wildlife! Today’s trip was full of creatures from both the land and the sea! Eagles, harbor seals, harbor porpoise, and last but not least ORCAS! As we journeyed up and over to the west side of San Juan Island we discovered a large pod of 15+ killer whales in Haro Strait; all surfacing and traveling in perfect synchronization. We believe this pod was made up of several members from both J and K pods. We were excited at the opportunity of spotting the very NEW (2 day old!) calf from K pod, it was hard to try and get a look as there were so many in the group traveling all together! Very exciting to see! We left the orcas as they continued to travel northbound and made our way to Gooch Island, just over the Canadian border, to find some harbor porpoise! The journey back home was just as adventurous as we saw several bald eagles soaring through the sky and two perched at the top of a dead tree on Stuart Island! Quite the successful day full of wildlife and whales!
Alex, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Haro Strait, j pod orca whales, K pod orcas, Orcas, san juan island
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Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Our adventures today started off a little cool, cloudy and choppy as we traveled south towards Cattle Pass. Along the way, we stopped for some harbor seals hauled out attempting to bask but then found others at the Pass being more efficient with their time (there was no sun for basking) hunting for food.
Around the bend, headed northwest into the Haro Straight, we began seeing intermittent identifiable black dorsal fins: looks like J-pod was in the neighborhood. The pod was spread out over a half mile with about ten individuals in pairs and singles. Some of the animals were even breaching! Another whale watching vessel identified one of the leaders as J2, “Granny,” leading the whales south but potentially changing the pod’s direction to go north again.
On our way back towards the harbor, we stopped by Long Island to see a bald eagle perched on a tree branch just fifty yards from its nest. As we made our final run into the harbor, we got some rain sprinkles followed by a very rewarding full sunshine!
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, j pod, Orcas, san juan island
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Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Woooeeee, the whales made us work for it today! Resident killer whales were reported at nearly the farthest point we can travel on our trips and they weren’t coming our way south either. We loaded up both boats and headed north right out of Friday Harbor with not a moment to spare to stop and gaze at other islands as we went. We crossed the border into Canada at the Haro Straight, went into Plumper Sound and between Mayne and Saturna Islands to pop out on the other side in the Strait of Georgia: we could see the city of VANCOUVER! Holy moly. OK, a little farther north along Mayne Island and BAM: whales!
They were all over the place and being a little sassy too. It looked like J30 “Riptide” and friends/family from J-pod were together, with several cow-calf pairs. Even further, many of the calves–and some of the adults–were incredibly active, with tail slapping, pec slapping, upside down tail slapping, SPY-HOPPING, and–are you ready for this?–breaching! And not just the lazy kinda-sorta breaches; we’re talking full on clear-the-water breaching!
Eventually, as it always goes in wildlife watching, we had to leave the whales to their Canadian frolics and head back to San Juan Island. Who knows, maybe they will decide to head south today or their counterparts, the transients, might come into the area instead.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: friday harbor, Haro Strait, j pod, Orca whale, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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