Posts Tagged ‘Lopez Island’
Friday, April 27th, 2012
Calm seas, sunshine, and ORCAS!
Upon leaving the harbor we traveled along the eastside of San Juan Island and found members of the J-Pod at the southern end of the island. For much of our encounter, the whales were spread out over a large distance but would then regroup and spend time within close proximity of each other.
Whales were traveling, milling, and exhibited foraging behavior, although no fish were seen. We heard amazing vocalizations using our underwater hydrophone; squeaks, squeals and percussive sounds.
Today we identified a group of Brants (geese) near the whales, along with 3 Surf Scoters near Goose Island, and some of our regulars, Cormorants and Pigeon Guillemots
After viewing the whales, we cruised over to the southern end of Lopez Island where harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and a two California sea lions were hauled out along the shoreline.
Not only did we see bald eagles but Captain Craig found us two different eagles nests, one with an adult eagle and at least one eaglet resting in the nest.
A very memorable day out here in the beautiful San Juan Islands.
Whale Watch Naturalists Colleen and Amy
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Seal, j pod, Lopez Island, Orcas, san juan island, Steller\'s Sea Lion
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Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Headed south down the east side of San Juan Island.A single mature bald eagle was spotted up in a tree. We paused to view it, then off it went. We went a bit further south, then stopped a rock outcrop with TONS of Stellars Sea Lions. Lounging, posturing, snoozing, swimming. They where piled up with scads of cormorants and a variety of gulls. You could smell that these animals were all fish eaters. (Hey, watch it, I kinda like that fragrance!) The boat sat with the engine off and twirled in the current. Pretty cool right at that spot in the water.
50/50 chance of seeing whales is what I gave it. BUT . . . It was a WHALE day for sure. We were on the west side of San Juan Island south of Lime Kiln, north of False Bay, about a mile from shore. A single male resident orca surfaced. Solo. We could not see any other whales for quite some time. The boat moved further north, then we began to see what looked like two females. While sitting with the engine off, after about 20 mintues, a female off our bow start slapping her pectoral fin. Over and over.she slapped. Almost as if waving to us. She kept this up for several minutes. I am not sure just how many orcas there were. They were all very s p r e a d out. None were breaching. None were surfacing. It seemed like heavy duty prey finding.
There was a report of Humpback whales 3 miles from us - closer to Canada. Off we went. There were a few other boats already on scene. Two humpbacks were swimming side by side in sync with each others movements. Another whale was solo. I kept expecting a fluke. Sure enough, when I was not looking, Shelly saw the tail. We stayed with these whales about 20 minutes. Then we turned and started homeward – southish. The orcas were still in the same area. Stilled looked like fishing and eating mode to me.
What a great “Tail End of the Season tour this was!
Naturalist, Colleen Johansen
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Humpback Whale, j pod, K Pod, Lopez Island, Orca whale, orca whales, salish sea, san juan island, seattle whale watching, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
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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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Friday, September 2nd, 2011
The sun may have been shining today, but it was raining marine mammals!!! Shortly after leaving Friday Harbor and heading south we saw a large group of Harbor porpoise. We cut the engine and the miniature Cetaceans that are famously shy were all around the boat and even porpoising out of the water, exposing much of their flanks. Then once in Salmon Bank a Minke whale’s long back broke the surface and was soon followed by its small hooked dorsal fin.
As we entered Cattle Pass back toward the harbor, we received the exciting call that there were orcas beside Lopez. Captain Mike quickly maneuvered the boat in a 180 and we were back out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Four to five orcas, one a juvenile, were seen cruising around the rocky outcrops near Iceberg Point. They were of the transient community with solid saddle patches and wide dorsal fins that angled further toward their posterior than the residents. We left them as they slowly started making their way north.
On our way back, we noticed that Whale Rocks were crowded with gigantic Steller sea lions and encircled by a few harbor seals. This happened to be not far, and in the same direction the transients were moving towards. We wondered if a pinnipede smorgasbord was in the making.
Kirsten, naturalist
Tags: Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, Lopez Island, minke whale, San Juan Safaris, Steller Sea Lion, Transient Orcas
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Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
Headed out between Shaw and Lopez Islands, past Orcas and out towards Lummi Island, we were in search of the ever-popular but very elusive (in the Pacific Northwest) humpback whale. Clocking in at an average 45 feet (school bus size) and 80,000 pounds, they are in the top ten largest animals to ever roam the Earth. Could we find one?
We saw boats out by Lummi, and continued towards them. And then, we saw a blow! And then another. But wait, there was another set of blows! We had not one but two humpback whales! As we continued to view the humpbacks, we noticed that one appeared a little smaller than the other; did we have a mother and almost-yearling calf? The larger whale would breathe for about 4-5 cycles and then fluke-up dive and then the smaller one would follow suite. Perhaps two juveniles, teens hanging out.
Inevitably, we had to go and headed to look for some harbor seals. Before we could get too far, though, we saw lots of small gray bodies porpoising (bringing part of their bodies up) out of the water. Harbor porpoises! We did also find our seals, several basking and several taking on the cold waters and swimming.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, Humpback Whale, Lopez Island, Orcas
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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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Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Traveling east between Orcas and Shaw Islands and then south along Lopez, we emerged in the Rosario straight. Despite starting in beautiful and warm Friday Harbor sunshine, we quickly became encompassed in a cool low-lying fog bank (but still at least giving us 225 yards of visibility). Looming off our starboard side was another whale watching vessel, stopped, watching, waiting. With a quick radio call to them, we learned that they were waiting for whales off of their port side; wait, that’s where we were! A moment later, we saw them: four orcas surfaced about 220 yards now off our port side, the eerie fog surrounding them.
As we watched the whales, another group surfaced behind us with three more individuals. With the fog, it was difficult to see how many whales there were and in what groupings. Two here, five there; three this way, six more that way! Then all of a sudden, they vanished on a dive. We shut down our engines and waited, each passenger scanning a different direction. When they finally surfaced, there were about twenty orcas together in a tight group, just off our stern! We could hear the poof-poof-poofs of their exhalations. At a glance, we determined that there was a mix of J and L pods, with identifications of a male,”Mega” (L-41), and a female, “Princess Angeline” (J-17).
As we were getting our last glimpses of the whales, the fog lifted and we welcomed back the sunshine. On our travels back to the harbor, we watched as a bald eagle circled overhead and then swooped down at the sea for a fresh fish stick dinner.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, j pod, L pod, Lopez Island, Orcas, san juan island
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Friday, June 24th, 2011
It started raining at exactly 1:00. We slogged out of the harbor under a giant black cloud that seemed to cover only San Juan Island. The farther away we got, the more sun we saw. Finally, headed southeast over the top of Lopez Island and down the east side, we moved out from under the cloud and into the sunshine. Guess who was waiting for us in the sunshine? Orcas. Resident orcas. Lots of them. We found them in Rosario Straight. They were spread from the near side of the channel all the way across toward Whidbey Island. It was tricky to get a good ID as they weren’t coming up too far out of the water, but our best guess from the partial saddles that we got was at least some of J pod with a possible few K’s and maybe even an L or two mixed in. Shortly after our arrival there was a bit of splashing and we did get to see a little guy breach a couple of times off in the distance. There was one tight group that stuck together the whole time we were there that included one big male and a couple of ladies as well as a juvenile and a calf. All in all it was a pretty spectacular day on the water. We ended up circumnavigating Lopez and saw a few porpoises and bald eagles galore on the way home.
Laura, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Lopez Island, Orca whale
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Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
With storm clouds and rain to the north, we started heading south towards Cattle Pass. Word on the quiet ocean: Minke whales were in the neighborhood.
Passing several plump harbor seals hauled out off Cattle Point, we motored out to Salmon Bank and then Hein Bank, areas known for schools of herring and, subsequently, birds and marine mammals feeding on the abundant food source. A female and calf Minke whale were seen by other vessels in the area. At Hein Bank, we spotted several more Minkes nearby. One curious creature passed within 120 yards of our vessel, bringing its rostrum–the top of its head–out of the water a few times. It’s rare that we glimpse more than the dorsal fin of a Minke whale! Despite an absence of sea birds, it is possible that these Minkes were foraging. In total, there were four animals spread out over several hundred yards.
Along our return trip, we saw two pairs of large (male?) Stellar sea lions hauled out and upright on Whale Rocks off Lopez Island. The second pair appeared to be communicating or arguing with one another as they were both vocalizing into the others face. Harbor porpoises made themselves known on our trip as well, though for just a quick glimpse of a gray dorsal fin or two.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Lopez Island, minke whale, san juan island, seattle whale watching
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Saturday, September 11th, 2010
The orcas and humpbacks were conspiring against us today. They were all 20 miles or more from Friday Harbor and were heading further west. Not a good combination for a successful whale watching tour. Luckily for us the minke whale were cooperating, so we went and spent time with them. Afterward we had a lovely cruise around Lopez Island, where we visited quiet coves and glassy waterways all chock-a-block full of seabirds. All of this was just what the cruise director ordered since People for Puget Sound had chartered the boat for the afternoon and they see this area as a whole, not just the sum of its charismatic megafauna (big, impressive mammals). So, rather than bore you with the wordy details, here is a sample photo collection of the kinds of creatures that we watched today.
Minke Whale with notched fin. Photo courtesy of Northeast Pacific Minke Whale Project
Red-necked Grebe. Photo courtesy of G. S. Schneider Photography
Marbled Murrelet. Photo courtesy of 91middleschoolsciences.wikispaces.com
Watmough Bay, Lopez Island. Photo courtesy of Mariusstrom
So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you who support the wildlife and wild places of this land, thank you and we will…
See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist
Tags: Lopez Island, Marbled Murrelet, minke whale, People for Puget Sound, Red-necked Grebe, san juan islands, San Juan Safaris, Watmough Bay
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