Posts Tagged ‘San Juan Safaris’
Thursday, July 14th, 2011
We headed south out of Friday Harbor this afternoon with word that there were killer whales around False Bay. On our way to the west side, we spotted a few harbor porpoises in the distance and some harbor seals poking their heads out of the water. Once at False Bay we caught a glimpse of three dorsal fins and some spouts, then there were six+ dorsal fins all coming up from underneath the glassy Salish Sea. It was J-pod. They were slowly traveling close to each other, nearly synchronized in their surfacing. It was an amazing site to see.
After spending some time with the whales, we headed back towards Salmon Bank. As soon as we got to that area, we spotted a single minke whale and watched it surface a few times before it disappeared into the depths. Then, on the way back into town, we came across another minke whale! Plus we stopped to check out a large group of harbor seals that were checking us out from the water, and a large pod of harbor porpoises that surrounded the boat and were proposing out of the water. It was an exceptional day in not only the numbers of species we encountered, but in the quantity of each species we saw as well!
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: False Bay, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, j pod, minke whale, Orcas, Salmon Bank, San Juan Safaris
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Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Another beautiful day as we motored south down the San Juan Channel toward Cattle Pass. It was slightly overcast but we could see Mt Baker standing tall to our east. We stopped to look at a juvenile bald eagle sitting atop a rock otherwise covered with seals and had an “awwww” moment when a tiny seal pup surfaced behind his mom, looked at us with his big, brown eyes and then did a crazy little half breach dive.
We rounded Cattle Point and cruised west, toward False Bay. In the distance we could see a handful of boats scattered over miles. As we drew closer we could see dorsal fins here and there. We sat, turned off the engines and observed whales in every direction. We were watching a female moving along our port side when we spied a mini dorsal fin on the other side of her. It was the smallest orca I have ever seen.
When we dropped the hydrophone our suspicions were confirmed. We heard the familiar kitten-like calls of K pod. It could only have been the new baby K I have heard so much about over the last few days. The mom and calf moved but we sat and observed other individuals moving through the area. We listened to faint calls and it was even calm enough to hear echolocation noises.
Laura, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, san juan island, San Juan Safaris
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Monday, July 4th, 2011
J pod was spread out along the southwest coast in smaller groups. The flag of American Camp waved on in the background as we encountered the first group of three orcas. It consisted of the mature male Mike (J-26) whose sea snake was present and the flashing of pink startled and confused the passengers. As we headed further north we saw a formation of four with whom we believed to have Granny (J-2) and Riptide (J-30) leading. The juveniles we passed along the way were continuously lob tailing and we even witnessed a few breaches. We enjoyed our views of the glowing haystack of Rainier and Mount Baker as we headed back in the warm sun.
Kirsten, naturalist
Tags: friday harbor, orca whales, Orcas, san juan islands, San Juan Safaris, Sea snake, seattle whale watching
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Saturday, June 18th, 2011
We narrowly escaped the rain today; luckily, by trip departure time it was done raining in the San Juan Islands. Overcast weather and threats of rain don’t keep the whales away though and as we rounded Cattle Point and came up along the west side in some choppy waves, we were rewarded for our perseverance: J-pod was back from their few-day stint at sea.
Spread out in a long line along the west coast, we watched the orcas travel in their smaller groups past Lime Kiln State Park. One orca out on its own (Blackberry?) ceased hugging the coast and traveled out among the various whale watching vessels, breaching twice before continuing his meanderings.
Reports indicated that K-pod and L-pod had also been in the area from the day before and that at some point, all three resident groups may have joined up as a super-pod.
Our trip concluded with a circumnavigation of San Juan Island, a stop by to see some harbor seals–including one mom and nursing newborn pair–hauled out, two bald eagle nests and a few groups of harbor porpoises.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, j pod, Orca whale, san juan island, San Juan Safaris, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011
Whale Watching Naturalist with Young Whale Watcher
Today on both of our trips, we encountered J-pod. First off of the west side of San Juan Island where they were headed northeast and then off of East point, the most northwestern point of the United States, and headed into Canadian waters. Our whales went international today, visiting a few countries along the way.
Within the pod, we were able to identify Mike. With Mike, we found his mother J16 (Slick); she has a little stripe of white coming off her saddle patch towards her dorsal fin making her somewhat recognizable. Two other animals were with this sub-group, possibly Slick’s children Echo and Alki. Bringing up the rear of J-pod was Blackberry. And with him were about five to six other orcas, potentially his family.
And following behind Blackberry and crew were… humans! A research group with NOAA was out tagging whales again, trying to understand what the whale hear and the sounds in their environment.
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, j pod, Orca whale, san juan island, San Juan Safaris, seattle whale watching, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
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Saturday, June 11th, 2011
As the sun dissipated the daunting clouds, we encountered J-Pod near Pile Point as they headed north toward Lime Kiln Point. A few individuals breached while the rest of the group continued to move at a slow pace in a spread out formation. We were excited to identify Riptide (J-30), the alleged great-grandson of Granny (J-2), who is believed to be 100 years old and the eldest female of the entire Southern Resident Community!
Kirsten Dale, Naturalist
Tags: Lime Kiln Point, Orca whale, Orcas, Pile Point, san juan island, san juan islands, San Juan Safaris, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle
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Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
As we circumnavigated San Juan Island we encountered species at every turn. The San Juan Chanel was full of harbor porpoises and bald eagles, the Haro Straight teemed with Dall’s porpoise and three minke whales were feeding around Salmon Bank where California sea lions rested on the buoy. An exciting day!
Kirsten, Naturalist
Tags: Bald Eagle, California Sea Lion, Dall\'s Porpoise, Harbor Porpoise, minke whales, san juan island, San Juan Safaris
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Monday, May 30th, 2011
On Sunday, May 29th we ventured out on two trips to accommodate all of our holiday weekend whale watchers. And successful we were.
Headed northbound, we stopped by Spieden island to see the non-native Mouflon sheep and Sika and Fallow deer. Further on, we saw several harbor seals and Stellar sea lions hauled out on the rocks warming up in the wonderful San Juan sunshine. Off of bird rock, we saw a young bald eagle (no white-feathered head yet) perched two feet out of the water, either just finishing his fishing and drying off or waiting to strike something tasty. On bird rock, we saw hundreds of cormorants sitting upon nests and rock ledges.
Out into the shipping lane known as Haro straight off the northwest side of San Juan Island, we discovered animals of a different caliber. Spread out in four smaller groups we found about eleven animals identified as part of the resident group L-pod! These animals were traveling south at a quick clip and as we watched them, we glanced several fins with one belonging to a small calf. This was my first viewing of L-pod for this season! As the seas got a little choppier and we began to run out of time, we made our turn back to Friday Harbor. Along the way, we traveled through Mosquito Pass and saw the historic Roche harbor on the north side of the island.
Welcome back, L-pod!
Serena, Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, Orca whale, san juan island, San Juan Safaris, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
Wednesday arrived with sunny skies and the warmest temperatures of the season. We departed a little early for our trip due to word of whales in the area. We headed through Cattle Pass with the tide flooding against us. As we cleared the pass and entered Haro straight Captain Craig pointed our bow south towards Partridge Bank. But half way there we took a sharp right and headed up the straight as we spotted some Orca closer to our position.
We came on scene with just a couple other boats and found maybe 8 or so charismatic animals. None of the boats had been able to get positive IDs on any of them. But there was plenty of surface activity including some porpoising behavior and a few spectacular breaches. We stayed with the whales for about 25 minutes before turning back towards home. On the way we encountered Pacific Loons, Cormorants, Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and some Steller Sea Lions. What a great day!
Mike – Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Haro Strait, Orca whale, San Juan Safaris, Transient Orcas, whale watching near seattle
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Sunday, May 1st, 2011
We left Friday Harbor with reports of a Minke Whale in Canadian waters. Under sunny skies and over glassy water we headed west. As we approached the area of the last sighting we slowed to a stop and shut down the engines. The passengers spread out along the rails and kept their eyes on the water. After fifteen minutes of scanning we saw the small whale surface about a quarter of a mile from the boat.
We watched it surface and saw that it was moving east. We idled parallel at about 300 yards and saw a half dozen good surfacings. After fifteen minutes it changed direction again we said goodbye to the Minke.
On the way home we saw Stellar’s Sea Lions sharing a rock with some Harbor Seals. Everyone appreciated the beautiful weather and the Minke Whale.
Mike Oster
San Juan Safaris
Tags: friday harbor, minke whale, san juan islands, San Juan Safaris, whale watching tour
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