Posts Tagged ‘san juan islands’
Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
Today’s tour was a bit different than usual, yet so refreshing! With no whale reports since the night before, we took our tour to the inner islands.
Sure the San Juan Islands are home to one of the most charismatic animals in the world, the Killer Whale, but that is not the only thing that makes them beautiful. Often times the inner beauties of these islands are overlooked, but today we allowed our guests to discover these beauties. We toured along Flattop Island, the Cactus Islands, through Johns and Stewart Island, then into Canada to see Moresby and Mandarte Island, and back into the U.S. to finish with Spieden Island.
The abundance of wildlife inhabiting these islands and the channels between is nothing short of remarkable, including those we saw today such as dozens of Harbor Porpoise, dozens upon dozens of Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, Cormorants, Sika Deer, Fallow Deer, Mouflon Sheep, Great Blue Heron, Gulls of all shapes and sizes, and Steller Sea Lions.
Animals aside, these islands standalone in their natural beauty. Glaciation has carved this area into one of the most majestic places on earth; the geology, the vegetation, simply awe-inspiring.
And if you haven’t seen enough then consider this, there are hundreds of islands that make up the San Juans and every island has a story of its own. From the coastal Sammish, to the Spaniards, to a one room school house, no plumbing, no electric, to the richest of summer homes, to marine state parks, to national wildlife refuges, to a war almost started over a Pig, to even owning an island yourself. These islands are something worth seeing and we can give you this experience.
Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, Cactus Islands, Coastal Sammish, cormorants, Fallow Deer, Flattop Island, Great Blue Heron, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Johns Island, killer whale, Mandarte Island, Moresby Island, Mouflon Sheep, san juan islands, Sika Deer, Spainiards, speiden island, Steller Sea Lions, Stewart Island
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Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
Today we headed north on a wildlife adventure! Incredible scenery through the northern San Juan Islands; we passed by Spieden Island first. Adult male mouflon sheep were grazing near shore; their large and round horns are quite a sight. Several females were also resting in the grass close by. We also spotted a bald eagle at the top of a tree looking out for its next meal. A harbor seal was resting with her pup on a mattress of rockweed, a type of seaweed, up against the shoreline. These pups nurse for about six weeks and then it is time to learn to hunt for fish. As we turned toward Stuart Island, we kept a lookout for any splashing at the surface. Harbor porpoise would quickly pop up, and down they would dive. Once we crossed Boundary Pass, we hugged the shoreline of Saturna Island. We were in Canada! We moved through these waters for a period of time, on the lookout for large marine mammals. We turned back toward Waldron Island and sure enough, the elusive minke whale (48°41.44N, 123°05.42W). Surrounded by seabirds, including rhinoceros auklets, common murres, and glaucous-winged gulls, a bait ball was just under the surface. Several surfaces by the minke allowed us to see that curved dorsal fin and pointed rostrum, or snout. After watching the minke for several minutes, we returned to Friday Harbor under sunny skies. So much to see while on the water!
SJS Naturalist Jenny
Tags: Bald Eagle, Boundary Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, minke whale, Mouflon Sheep, san juan islands
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Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
Herb Hartman, photographer, has gone out whale watching with us so many times that he is considered an honorary staff member.
Here are photos from his two tours, one at 1:30 and one at 5:30 from August 13, 2012.
Tags: friday harbor, orca whales, Orcas, san juan island, san juan islands, seattle whale watching, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
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Tuesday, August 14th, 2012
Minkes today!
Although our Southern Resident Killer Whales were nowhere to be found today, we did have luck finding Minke Whales. Not just one, but two (maybe even 3!) Minkes were in the Salmon Banks area, on the south side of San Juan Island (48°25.33’N, 122°59.94’W). Just rounding the corner out of Friday Harbor, a Bald Eagle majestically perched at the top of a fir on Turn Island. On the way out of San Juan Channel, eight Stellar Sea Lions sunned themselves on Whale Rocks, while young Harbor Seal pups seemed to be everyone in the water. On Goose Island, Glaucous Winged Gull chicks still covered the east side of the rocks, while Cormorants sunned themselves near the water’s edge. Along with the wild life viewing, today’s sunny weather, and an exciting current racing with the flood tide through Cattle Pass, it was another excellent day on the water!
Shelly, Naturalist
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Harbor Seals, killer whales, minke whale, Salmon Bank, San Juan Channel, san juan island, san juan islands, seattle whale watching, Steller Sea Lions, Steller\'s Sea Lion, whale watching tour
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Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
Fantastic wildlife viewing today! Caught up with Southern Resident Killer Whales off East Point, Saturna Island, BC (48°27.25N, 123°02.35W). Viewed a large group of tightly packed members of J Pod, with J-37 (Hy’Shqa) and new baby tucked in between, moving westerly off Saturna Island at a slow pace. Lots of tail slapping, lob tailing, breaching, spy-hopping. Saw Bald Eagles in the trees and sitting on the rocks off Cactus Island. Guests witnessed a breathtaking dive bomb to the water by an eagle, who successfully emerged with a fish, then landed on a rock and started eating. Excellent wildlife viewing, warm weather, and mellow seas made for another amazing day on the Salish Sea.
Shelly, Tara, and Jenny, Naturalist for San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Cactus Islands, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, j pod, killer whales, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, salish sea, san juan islands, Saturna Island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle
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Saturday, August 4th, 2012
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
Tags: Bald Eagles, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, Humpback Whale, san juan islands, Stuart Island, Turn Point
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Saturday, May 26th, 2012
Transients Orcas and Summer weather!
Fantastic day on the water: treated to clear skies, summery temps, and a stunning view of Mt. Baker, we traveled north out of Friday Harbor, around the north side of Orcas Island, until catching up with Transient Orcas on the north side of Lummi Island. Counts varied, depending on who you talked to, but we agreed that we did see 7 total. Latitude 48°44’ Longitude 122°45’. As mesmerized as we were by the orcas, it was hard not to notice the many pairs of Rhinocerus Auklets calmly floating by, as well as a pair of Loons. Our day would not be complete without a Bald Eagle sighting, which was our final reward when a stately adult sailed overhead as we entered back into the marina.
Naturalists Shelly and Tara, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, salish sea, san juan islands, San Juan Safaris, seattle whale watching, Transient Orcas, whale watching near seattle
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Saturday, May 19th, 2012
For a day where the weather forecast predicted rain, it was awfully sunny and calm in the San Juan Islands today! As we left Friday Harbor we stopped to view a California sea lion hauled out on a buoy right outside the harbor. We then headed south towards Salmon Bank to look for minke whales since the water was like glass, the perfect condition for spotting minkes! But before getting there we were able to see harbor seals hauled out and in the water, double crested cormorants on Goose Island, and a single, giant male steller sea lion hauled out on Whale Rocks. It was rubbing all over the rocks; a very cool behavior!
At salmon bank it wasn’t long before we spotted a minke in the not so far distance. It surfaced twice and then disappeared. We turned around eager to spot more, but came across two more steller sea lions thrashing around in the water. A flash of a fish in it’s mouth and swarming gulls told us they were foraging! Finally at 48o 24.0930′ N, 122o59.0386′ W another minke was seen. We watched for a while before heading to Long Island where we saw a single bald eagle next to its huge nest. Finally, back in San Juan Channel there were two groups of at least six harbor porpoises on either side of our boat, still surfacing as we made our way back.
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, Long Island, minke whale, Salmon Bank, San Juan Channel, san juan islands, Steller Sea Lions, Whale Rocks
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Thursday, May 10th, 2012
The name of the game today was Harbor. Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoises were everywhere in the Salish Sea today. We started by heading north out of Friday Harbor. Our first stop was Spieden Island, where we saw not only mouflon sheep and sika deer, but at least six bald eagles flying over the tree tops. Two of them left the island and flew straight over our boat! We also spotted harbor seals everywhere! They were hauled out on just about every rocky island. We then headed towards Mandarte island where double crested cormorants and gulls were nesting and flying above. Then, off Turn Point we spotted harbor porpoises all around the boat! Coming up multiple times so that we were able to get a good look. Plus, there were more bald eagles! Two were perched at the top of a tree, and three more were circling above Stuart Island. Finally, on the way back there were two Steller sea lions off the south tip of Spieden Island.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, cormorants, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Mouflon Sheep, san juan islands, Sika Deer, Spieden Island, Steller Sea Lions, Stuart Island, Turn Point
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Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Leaving Friday Harbor under solid grey skies, a damp drizzle, no wind, very calm seas, and a last minute report that Transient Orcas were on the west side of San Juan Island, we headed north and quickly made our way to the west side via Spieden Channel in anticipation of running into the northern-bound whales.
It wasn’t until Pile Point though, before we caught up with 3 of the T-100’s, including T101 and T102 (48°28’N, 123°05’W), traveling south from Pile Point off the west side of San Juan Island. Another group of Transients were reported behind us (6 or 7). We stayed with the T-100’s till the Salmon Banks buoy before heading towards Cattle Pass and home. A stop at Whale Rocks gave us great viewing of hauled out Stellar Sea lions covering one end, while several more milled about in the water. And, just like yesterday, we found several groups of Harbor Porpoises foraging in San Juan Channel, between Lopez Island and Turn Island. It was also a great day for viewing Bald Eagles. We found them perched in tree tops, posed on the top of rocks, and even one sitting on a rocky beach on the north end of San Juan Island.
Another perfect day in the Northwest!
Naturalist Shelly and Captain Mike
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Haro Strait, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, Rhinocerus Auklets, San Juan Channel, san juan islands, San Juan Safaris, Steller\'s Sea Lion, Transient Orcas, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
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