Posts Tagged ‘Turn Point’
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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Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
We had a very exciting and full-of-wildlife day! We departed Friday Harbor heading north into Canadian waters. Before seeing the main event (killer whales) we spotted about five or six harbor porpoise just north of San Juan Channel. Not long after we saw one dorsal fin, then another, then three more! There were about eight to ten southern resident killer whales, traveling close to each other. They were moving north along Pender Island (48º 36.54’N 123º 04.94’W). We watched as three whales spy-hopped, one after another, followed by a full, body out of the water, breach! The whales then moved close to shore, slowly diving and surfacing. In this group naturalist Jenny and I were able to identify members from both J and L pods, including L-72 Racer, J-27 Blackberry, J-28 Polaris, L-25 Ocean Sun.
After watching the whales, we motored around Stuart Island and spotted a few nesting cormorants on the rocky cliff near Turn Point. Also included in our trip home was a great look of Spieden Island where the non-native, but oh so cool muflon sheep and fallow deer were grazing, bald eagles were flying over the island and perched in a few trees, and eight harbor seals were hauled out of the water near the shore, including three mother pup pairs! Finally, just before getting back into Friday Harbor, a guest spotted another bald eagle. Definitely not our average Wednesday out on the water!
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, cormorants, Fallow Deer, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, j pod, killer whales, L pod, Mouflon Sheep, Orcas, pender island, San Juan Channel, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Spieden Island, Stuart Island, Turn Point
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Wednesday, June 27th, 2012
With reports of Resident Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island and Transient Orcas north of Stuart Island, it was a tough call on which direction to take. Fortunately, heading north to search for Transients turned out to be a great choice! At Blundand Island (Gulf Islands, BC) we caught up to about 8 or more tightly grouped whales (48°43’86N 123°10’9W), including T102, that seemed to be slowly moving along the island until something kicked a pair into action and they repeatedly porpoised along the island, took a long dive, then surfaced along with the rest of the group.
Harbor porpoises were everywhere today – milling in San Juan Channel and in Boundary Pass.
We also watched Bald Eagles perched, as they kept an eye on their territory at Cactus Islands, along with one spotted on the flag pole at the end of Stuart Island, and another 2 at Flat Top Island. One was even perched on top of the National Wildlife Refuge sign. We also saw two Great Blue Herons at John’s Island.
Another great day on the water; sunny skies, glass-like seas, and excellent wildlife viewing!
Naturalists Tara, Kristen, and Shelly; San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Cactus Islands, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, killer whales, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, san juan island, San Juan Safaris, seattle whale watching, Stuart Island, Transient Orcas, Turn Point
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Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Rain could not keep us away from the whales today as we departed North out of Friday Harbor. It was a bit foggy as we left, but the further north we went, the clearer it became. Then, just south of Turn Point we spotted J-2 “Granny” swimming along Stuart Island by herself. We watched as the 101 year old killer whale surfaced and dived. The rest of J-pod wasn’t far behind her including J-27 “Blackberry”. After watching the whales go by for a while we started back towards San Juan Island. Along the way back we stopped by Spieden Island and saw two juvenile bald eagles as well as Muflon sheep. Around the north end of the island we noticed a couple more bald eagles all around the same spot; they were munching on a deer or sheep carcass! It was an incredible sight. The fog then thickened as we slowly made our way through it to the docks, giving the Salish Sea an eerie calm, and a great ending to the trip.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, friday harbor, j pod, Mouflon Sheep, salish sea, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Stuart Island, Turn Point
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Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Today we followed a similar route to yesterday’s trip. We headed north out of the San Juan Channel, past the west side of Waldron and out to Patos Island. About a half mile west of Patos we saw around 20 to 30 Harbor Porpoises milling in the rip tides. This appeared to be a great foraging area and it was very cool too see so many Harbor Porpoises together in one place. As we reached East Point we saw a similar set-up to yesterday with about 100 Harbor Seals hauled out on the left side of the rock and about 20 or so Steller Sea Lions on the right side. It was as if they didn’t even move.
We then made our way back through Boundary Pass along Saturna Island where we caught a few Bald Eagles and numerous Harbor Seals hauled out on the Java Islets. As we made our way further into American waters we stopped by both Turn Point and Spieden Island for a couple more wildlife opportunities. At Turn Point we saw another Bald Eagle and along Spieden Island we saw about 15 Sika Deer and 2 lone Mouflon Sheep. It was a great day for wildlife!
Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Mouflon Sheep, San Juan Channel, Saturna Island, Sika Deer, Spieden Island, Steller Sea Lions, Turn Point
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Friday, May 11th, 2012
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
Tags: Bald Eagle, East Point, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Humpback Whale, Mandarte, Mouflon Sheep, san juan island, Sika Deer, Spieden Island, Turn Point
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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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Friday, July 22nd, 2011
We headed north out of Friday Harbor this afternoon in search of any and all wildlife that lives in or around the Salish Sea. Our first encounter came when we slowed and went across Spieden Island where there was wildlife from the shore line to the sky. First we noticed harbor seals that were hauled out on the narrow shoreline. Then looking up, we saw mouflon sheep and fallow and sitka deer along the grassy hill tops. Finally, in the sky was a lone bald eagle in all its glory; wings fully extended and soaring above the tree tops.
It didn’t take much longer until we saw the first signs of killer whales; spouts were up ahead! Then dorsal fins! After watching for a few minutes we realized that there were a lot of whales, twenty plus, milling around in very close proximity to one another. It looked like there were members from both J and K pod in the group, and there was a very small, orange calf that didn’t look like K44! (new calf possibly?!).
After spending our time with the whales we headed back to San Juan Island. On the way we stopped by turn point near the lighthouse where we encountered a few harbor porpoises and we were also able to stop and view some more harbor seals that were hauled out on rocks. It was a very exciting day!
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Fallow Deer, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, j pod, K Pod, killer whales, Mouflon Sheep, salish sea, san juan islands, Turn Point
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Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
What better way to end a busy day shopping in Friday Harbor than on the calm waters of the Salish Sea? Surrounded by marine wildlife in every direction, this evening’s sunset tour was quiet the safari! The adventure started with the misty blows of orca whales off Spieden Island. As we approached them we were able to identify a few members of Jpod, including the impressive adult male “Ruffles”, 100-year old “Granny”, and “Blackberry”. They traveled in a large closely knit pod, with at least eight other orcas. They swam along the backside of Spieden towards Turn Point on Stuart Island. The orcas became quiet lively while heading over Boundary Pass, breaching, tail slapping, cartwheeling, and spy hopping. The crowd cheered at the thrill of seeing such playful behavior in their natural environment. It was difficult to leave the orcas, however we quickly spotted dall’s porpoises as we returned home. We wrapped up our safari by viewing a bald eagle and harbor seals.
The dynamic duo,
Sally and Casey
Naturalists
Tags: Bald Eagle, Dall\'s Porpoise, friday harbor, Orca whale, Spieden Island, Stuart Island, Turn Point
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Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Another sunny day on the Sea Lion! As we boarded the boat, we received news that orca whales were spotted north near Vancouver. Communicating with the other whale watching vessels helped inform our crew that the whales were actually heading closer to us near Saturna Island. The excitement on the boat stirred like the nutrients upwelling in the currents of the Salish Sea.
We spotted three members of our Southern Resident orca community when we arrived at Monarch Head. There was a female orca traveling with a subadult and a calf. Our good luck continued when we saw one of the whales breaching about 200 yards away, giving us a great view of its glossy belly. As we followed the whales south we identified the male orca J-26 “Mike”. This 19 year old juvenile was given his nickname after the whale researcher Mike A. Bigg who passed away in 1991.
Our next stop was Turn Point on Stuart Island. Captain Mike stopped the boat and I lowered our high-tech hydrophone into the water, enabling our lucky crew to hear the whales communicating. Listening to their serenading vocalizations made for one of the most peaceful days I have experienced on the water. Sunkissed and blissed we returned back to Friday Harbor.
Sally, Naturalist
Tags: friday harbor, j pod, Orca whale, Saturna Island, Turn Point
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