Seals basking on rock outcrops. A Minke whale in Griffin Bay. A Stellar sea lion wrestling with an OCTOPUS? Yes at Cattle Pass. Harbor porpoise on the port side! The sea lion won. Then off to Hein Bank to view a Humpback whale. One single humpback lazily coming up for air, then a 5 minute dive – going to Victoria.
What a day.
The Salish Sea was once again teeming with marine mammals and seabirds. September is definitely proving to be my favorite month of the season; the scenery is breathtaking, the weather is gorgeous, and there seems to be a superabundance of wildlife taking advantage of these very productive waters.
As we cruised through the San Juan Channel and Cattle Pass we saw a number of Harbor Seals and Steller Sea Lions. The Steller Sea Lions seemed especially curious, pausing to take long looks at us before they continued their foraging efforts.
Roughly 1.5 miles offshore of San Juan Island near Salmon Bank we found a Minke Whale (48°25.39N, 122°59.35W). The Minke Whale was busy foraging, zigzagging over the bank in search for its next gulp of small schooling fish. The whale even surprised us by surfacing 100 yards from the stern of the vessel!
Having heard reports of Dall’s Porpoise in the area we next motored towards Middle Bank where we saw over a dozen Dall’s Porpoise working the rip tides. As we cruised by the Dall’s Porpoise, several of them decided to take a short break from foraging to surf the bow wave. We were all mesmerized as their black and white bodies darted and zipped back and forth across our bow only surfacing for a split second to catch a breath of air.
As we began our return to Friday Harbor, Captain Mike spotted 3 Humpback Whales near Eagle Point (48°27.40N, 123°02.59W). We initially only saw what we thought was 1 Humpback Whale then we saw 2 surface at the same time; a mother and a calf. Then, the next thing we knew a third individual was at the surface! We turned off our engines to watch these majestic beasties and listen to their powerful exhales. The whales were initially traveling east before they dove and changed direction turning south and heading right for us. With our engines already off and the animals within 100 yards we waited for the Humpback Whales to travel by. I later apologized to all of our guests who were videotaping the whales because my squeals and giggles of delight could be heard echoing throughout the vessel. :D
One final stop at Whale Rocks concluded our trip. Here we saw over 30 Steller Sea Lions sprawled out over the island. Most of these bachelors seemed to be enjoying their afternoon siestas but several others were causing a raucous that resulted in very vocal, verbal disagreements.
Naturalist Amy, San Juan Safaris Whale Watching and Wildlife Tours
We traveled 60 miles round trip today, and boy was it worth it!
We found 2 Humpback Whales outside of Victoria, British Columbia near Race Rocks (48°18.14N, 123°30.73W). The whales would surface four or five times, their powerful exhales vaporizing the water over their blowholes into a 10ft high mist, and then dive raising their tail flukes out of the water. Fortunately their deeper dives lasted only 4-5 minutes so we had several opportunities to view these majestic beasties.
What many people don’t realize is that Humpback Whales were the most numerous of the whales in this area in the early 1900’s. By the 1950’s the population was decimated primarily due to commercial whaling. Now for the good news, since the late 1980’s Humpback Whale numbers have been slowly increasing as the whales are rediscovering the area.
So, this sighting was a rare treat and we were one of the few vessels from the San Juan Islands to see whales today.
Hooray for the Humpback Whale!
Naturalist Amy, San Juan Safaris Whale Watching and Wildlife Tours
Man was today a day for whales in Haro Strait; we saw a Humpback Whale (48°29.81N 123°11.95W) and 6 Transient Orcas (48°27.21N 123°09.33W)!!!! There was also rumor of transients north, where most of the whale watch fleeted ended up going, but our decision to go south and around San Juan turned for the better. There were hardly any other boats around and we got the bonus of seeing a Humpback! Now if I were you, I would choose the San Juan Safaris crew.
Let’s take a little risk, make a little adventure, and see the best of what we’ve got out here!
Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris
What an incredible sight last night south of Victoria. Tangerine orange sunset and TWO humpbacks feeding in synchronization…they could have won a gold medal for synchronized swimming! These massive baleen whales were lunging for schooling fish and plankton. We could see their throat pleats stretch as they swallowed large quantities of food. Small fish were leaping out of the water in attempts to escape. Guests had incredible photos of flukes and flippers. It was a 50 mile round-trip and worth the travel time! Who says you have to go all the way to Maui to see the humpbacks!
SJS Naturalist Jenny
We held off long enough, but it seems like summer finally made it’s way to the San Juan Islands! Absolutely beautiful afternoon, super clear skies and super flat seas. We left Friday Harbor heading north with word of a humpback whale in the area. We spotted the distinct, 10 foot plus blow of a large humpback whale just off the west end of Stuart Island. It was traveling north east around Turn Point before making a b-line across the US boarder into Canadian waters. It surfaced two, three, up to four times before living up to it’s name and “humping,” waving it’s fluke in the air before it disappeared and was down for about three to four minutes.We watched this for a while until the pattern was broken when the whale decided to lunge out of the water! It was awesome!
Bald eagles were also everywhere! Both on our way out and back we could spot eagles in the trees. Plus, we were able to see some harbor seals and pups before getting back to the harbor.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
We headed north to Canadian waters today; calm waters and warm sun made for a wonderful boat ride. As we approached Saturna Island, we saw the spray…the spray of the humpback whale. We observed this marine mammal feeding in Boundary Pass (48°43.982N, 123°08.698W), and had the opportunity to watch the fluke dip into the water. As this type of whale has baleen plates, it was likely feeding on krill or a variety of small schooling fish. Several rhinoceros auklets were around, hoping to join the feeding frenzy. After viewing the humpback for several minutes, we turned south and passed the east side of Stuart Island, noting some harbor porpoise along the way. A bald eagle was standing guard! We had the opportunity to view a large nest on Cactus Island. We concluded our tour with a passing of Spieden Island. Mouflon sheep were grazing in the shade. Several harbor seal mothers and pups were out on the hunt too! What an incredible day on the water.
SJS Naturalist Jenny
Tons of whale action today; three Minke Whales and even a Humpback!!! (Salmon Bank, 48°25.01N 122°59.19W)
Humpbacks typically don’t come this far inland, to San Juan Island, so it was a great treat! These whales couldn’t be more graceful raising their fluke entirely out of the water and slowly diving down without a splash. They are THE true mermaids of the sea.
On our way in we saw tons of other wildlife including Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Steller Sea Lions, and Harbor Porpoise.
What a wonderful day to be a member of Team San Juan Safaris!
Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris
The 4th of July proved to be a WHALE of a day!
Members of J- and L-pods were observed traveling north along the west side of San Juan Island near Lime Kiln Point State Park (48°30.3261N, 123°10.8999W). L87 “Onyx” was exhibiting foraging behavior, surfacing quickly and changing direction frequently. We also saw J28 “Polaris” traveling with a younger whale. While watching the Southern Resident Killer Whales a Humpback Whale surfaced near Small Pox Bay also traveling north. The Humpback Whale would take a few breaths of air before diving for several minutes. We last saw the Humpback Whale perform a fluke-up dive just south of Mitchell Bay (48°34.0625N, 123°11.0407W).
What a special day out in the Salish Sea!
Amy, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris Whale Watching and Wildlife Tours
Today was amazing! Before the boat even left the slip, we saw a curious little harbor seal poke his head out of the water to check us out. Then, we actually left Friday Harbor and headed north towards Spieden Island where we saw mouflon sheep at the southern point. Along the island there was a group of sika deer right by the water’s edge, and a couple of babies running along next to their mothers. At the end of Spieden there was a bald eagle perched at the top of the tallest tree. Our next stop was Mandarte Island to check out the gull and cormorant nests. Just as we passed, we spotted harbor porpoises on either side of the boat. Some were porpoising out of the water! Not something we usually see from them!
We got really lucky just as we reached Turn Point, a humpback whale was spotted north of East Point! It was decision time; continue our course, or extend our trip and go for it. We decided to go for it and headed further north. And was it worth it! The humpback whale blew magnificently in the distance. We watched as it surfaced a few times before flashing its fluke in a fluke up dive. After what seemed like not time, we had to turn back to San Juan Island.
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris