Posts Tagged ‘whale watching tour’
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
L
Orca off South West End of San Juan Island Sunset Whale Watch Tour
Last evening I got out from behind the computer and went on the 5:30 whale watching tour. It is the “lighting”. I just love it around 7:00 pm when eveyone’s faces are warm from the sunlight. The Madrone trees seem firey and the summer grass on the hills glows.
There were many, many whales out off San Juan Island last evening. A guest took a photo and Serena ID’d the orca as Cappucino. The orcas were doing lots of fishing. The movements they were making near the surface – back and forth, back and forth – then there were some spy hops and some well, was it “love” in the water?
The seabirds were partying on an outcrop. Sea Lions and Harbor Seal were all having a snooze – lazin’ about. A couple bald eagles were circumnavigating Spieden Island.
We passed through Mosquito Pass (Roche Harbor) named so because the boats through that passage were as thick as mosquitoes. We slowly passed homes gleaming in the late light, little private docks, little private boats, large private boats (none with helicopters tonight) and more Madrone trees popping out past Pearl Island near Spieden Island.
18 knots and 25 minutes later we came around the corner and there was our little town on the hill – Friday Harbor with its evening lights twinkling. Home Sweet Home.
Sea Lions and Seals Sunset Whale Watch Tour July
Male Southern Resident Orca Whale Sunset Whale Watch Tour
Madrone Trees on the Sunset Whale Watch Tour
Guest on the Sunset Whale Watch viewing snoozing harbor seals
Male Orca Dorsal on the Sunset Whale Watch Tour July
Lookin' Around (spy hop) Taken on a Sunset Whale Watch Tour
It's a Sea Bird Party! Sunset off San Juan Island
Young Guests Viewing Wildlife at Sunset
There's A Serious Photographer - Photographers Love the Sunset Tour
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, henry island, j pod, Orca whale, san juan islands, seattle whale watching, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
Posted in charter boat san juan island, orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Recently we had a family group charter the Kittiwake boat for a family reunion.
They had our favorite caterer bring boxed lunches, sodas and home made goodies for the occasion. Kittiwake is certified for 24 passengers. When booking the public in, we limit this number to 12. When using her for a charter we like to limit it to 14 so that there is plenty of space for guests, food and guests belongings.
This boat charter saw orca whales, bald eagles, harbor seals, at least a dozen species of sea birds and lots and lots of island scenery.
Chartering the boat gave this family an opportunity to be isolated with their loved ones and they had the Captain and the Marine Naturalists all to themselves.
When they returned, they made sure to come into the office to tell us what a wonderful time they had and how great the crew was and how happy the were that they chartered the boat.
Charters start at $895.00
Tags: charter boat san juan island, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, j pod, san juan island, whale watching tour
Posted in charter boat san juan island, orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Monday, July 18th, 2011
We started seeing the dorsal fins of K pod after exiting the Speiden Channel and spotted Deadhead (K-27) with her new son (K-44). The boy is her first offspring and he will remain unnamed until after he has survived a winter and is officially considered part of the pod. Researchers do this because of the alarming fact that only around half of the calves survive the first year of life. The first-born calf has an even lower survival rate which is believed to be partially due to the large amount of toxins they receive through the milk. The organic toxin Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is extremely concentrated in the orcas of the Salish Sea with the transients having the highest levels recorded in any marine mammal. PCBs are soluble in fats so they are found in high doses in the fat-rich milk of mothers. A female unloads a huge portion of the toxins she accumulated throughout her life onto her first child, with subsequent calves receiving much less of the chemicals. With hopeful thoughts of this little ones future, we watched him lobtail next to the cliffs and lighthouse of Stuart Island while the sun warmed the scene.
Kirsten, naturalist
Tags: Deadhead (K-27), K Pod, K-44, killer whales, orca whales, PCB, salish sea, Stuart Island, toxins, Transient Orcas, whale watching tour
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Monday, July 18th, 2011
Herb has been out with San Juan Safaris for years now and on so many trips that he is an “honorary staffer”. Along with knowing a lot about whales, and I am talking Hawaii to Massacusetts, he has a great eye. He has been very generous this year and in the past sharing all his photos. Here are just a few of the many taken in the past 3 days.
Spy Hop by Herb Hartman
Marine Naturalist Serena by Herb Hartman
Kittiwake aka the adult boat 12 guests, 12 years and older by Herb Hartman
Maturea Bald Eagle by Herb Hartman
Tucker - the whale poop sniffin' dog (go ahead, ask us) by Herb Hartman
Parallel Orca Whale by Herb Hartman
3 porpoise by Herb Hartman
Guests on the Kittiwake watching whales by Herb Hartmann
Smooth orca by Herb Hartman
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, j pod, Orca whale, orca whales, san juan island, seattle whale watching, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Strait of Juan de Fuca, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Friday, July 15th, 2011
We headed out of Friday Harbor with some very fun and excited passengers. Our first stop was right around the corner with some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and we even saw a tiny little pup trying to climb on its moms back while swimming in the current. We continued on through Cattle Pass and quickly found a great group of Orcas near False Bay. As we slowly approached and started watching one group, we saw even more whales in every direction around us. The word from other vessels on the scene was that Ks and Ls were moving in to the area to hang out with the Js. It seemed like just about every member of the Southern Resident Community was spread from close to shore to the Olympic Peninsula. It was incredible!
Unfortunately we had to head back to the harbor, but on the way we encountered a Minke whale as well as the most harbor seals I’ve ever seen around the boat playing and feeding in the tide rips. Another great day on the water!
Mike – Naturalist
San Juan Safaris
Tags: friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Harbor Seals, j pod, L pod, minke whale, Orca whale, Orcas, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching tour
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
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
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Today we saw two Transient Orcas way up on the west side of Pender Island. One of them was a big male with a huge dorsal that we identified as T20. He had one of the coolest, most unique fins I have seen so far. With a couple of notches and a port-side lean, his dorsal was easy to ID even from several hundred yards away. The whales were milling, but, overall seemed mostly interested in moving south.
The trip up was Bald Eagle central, with the birds every couple hundred yards all along the shoreline. There was even a pair sitting on the ground together in the Cactus Islands.
On our way home the sun had broken through the clouds and we stopped to look at a few dozen Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks near Sentinel Island and then took a look at a few Mouflon sheep grazing on the south side of Speiden.
It was a nice little Tuesday.
Laura, Naturalist
The other we were thinking might have been T21?
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Seal, Mouflon Sheep, Orcas, seattle whale watching, whale watching tour
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
The sun was shining as we left the harbor and headed south toward Cattle Pass. A few of the seals hauled out on the rocks lazily lifted their heads to give us a quick glance before returning to their afternoon nap. A river otter scampered down the shoreline and slid into the water, quickly disappearing below the glassy surface. A hand full of Steller Sea Lions were rolling around in the pass, floating and lifting their flippers into the air. They too seemed to be enjoying the sunshine, lazing about.
Once we got around the corner off of South Beach we saw a diminutive fin pop up in the distance. Certainly not an Orca. We drew closer and had the privilege of seeing a small Minke Whale lift his head to the surface and then slowly roll back under. He surfaced 3 more times and then took a longer dive. We waited about 10 minutes before he surfaced again about a quarter mile away from us. We idled forward in the direction of his last surfacing and saw him come up once more about 250 yards from our boat. It was a great Minke sighting. The smooth, calm water made it easy to see the elusive cetacean. It was one of the best Mike encounters I have had.
The weather was so beautiful that we did a circumnavigation of San Juan Island, coming back along the south coast of Speiden to catch a quick look at a few deer and sheep. We saw a bald eagle sitting a top a tree and then watched Harbor Porpoises pop up here and there all the way back to the harbor.
Laura, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, whale watching tour
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
Another beautiful day. That makes wo in a row!
It was calm enough to head south through Cattle Pass and do an entire circumnavigation of San Juan Island. Whale rocks was packed with Steller Seal Lions, Harbor Seals, and Cormorants and as we headed out toward the straight, with the wind at our backs, we decided it would be the perfect day to just keep on going. We made it all the way around to Henry Island and turned out toward Speiden to try to sneak a peek at some land mammals. Mouflon sheep were out and about and were all the way down on the rocks next to the water. We saw a bald eagle in a tree and another one sitting on top of the hill and noticed a rowdy posse of seal lions in the water at the point, lifting their heads to get a better view of our boat.
We jogged through the Wasp Islands in hope of a possible encounter with a wayward transient, but no luck. We made it back to the harbor without a whale sighting, but under sunny skies and with plenty of other wildlife sightings. Sea lions, seals, eagles, and no rain? Yes please!
Laura
Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Cattle Pass, Harbor Seal, henry island, Mouflon Sheep, san juan island, Spieden Island, Steller\'s Sea Lion, whale watching tour
Posted in orca whale watching by seattle | Comments Off
