 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||
Resident Orca WhalesSan Juan Island is where the southern resident killer whales (SRKW) live about 6 months of the year. At this writing there are 83 resident orca whales. They are near San Juan Island from mid-April to the beginning of October.Why Orcas Love San Juan IslandSan Juan Island is considered THE BEST place to view orca whales. Salmon, which are their prime source of food (about 95% of what they eat), travel up and down the west coast of San Juan Island and outlying areas.How Lack of Chinook Salmon Affects the Resident Orca Whale PopulationOrcas eat salmon, but not just any salmon. They LOVE Chinook salmon. 95% of their diet is Chinook Salmon. Click here to see graphs that show the correspondance of orca population to chinook population. Scroll 1/2 way down the page. Click here to see critical salmon habitatWhat's The Best Time To See Orca WhalesWe see orca whales on over 95% of our tours. The best months to see orca whales are: Mid-April through the first part of October.What is the best time of day to see orca whales? Anytime. Orcas are out and about all day, so morning, afternoon or evening- it doesn't really matter. We say go when it fits your schedule. Our GuaranteeWe guarantee that you will see marine mammals and that you will come back with memories to last a lifetime!What 'guaranteed' whales really means - click here  Why YOU should go with USWe keep our guest count small. This gives you, our guest, the opportunity to converse on a one to one basis with your naturalist and captain.We pride ourselves on both personal attention and the insight that we bring to those viewing wildlife with us. 40 or fewer guests aboard the Sea Lion and 14 or few guests aboard the Kittiwake. Our tours and staff are so well loved that a good portion of our business is repeat customers. Guests frequently tell us that our staff is warm, friendly and how informative they are. We respect not only the legal distance from orca whales, but the polite distance. This allows the orca time for foraging, resting, playing and going about their lives. Our staff is handpicked for both their scientific understanding of wildlife, their love of and dedication to wildlife and their respect for the environment. We also select staff that have an outgoing and warm personality. All of us at San Juan Safaris pride ourselves on attention to detail and follow through. Tour Reviews From An Online AgentWhale Watching By Boat From San Juan Islands (Whale Watching) We saw several pods of Orcas fairly close up, and on the way out we saw several Dahl's Porpoise porpoising. This was after all the purpose of our porpoise cruise. And it was a lovely day, to boot. But the birding was dull.Reviewed by: Robert H., United States, July 2008 Read more reviews by clicking here  updated:
|
 MV Sea Lion 55 foot X 16 foot, walk around deck, enclosed cabin and bathroom  MV Kittiwake 30 foot X 12 foot, partially enclosed cabin and bathroom. Whale Watching Guidelines M3 brochure
Jumping for Joy? Photo contest winner Ernie Westle 2003  Orca Whale starting into a back flip Orca Whale done with the back flip  Orca Breaching off San Juan Island 
Orca with rainbow A group of Orca gliding by our boat - photo by Peter Di Lorenzi  Orca frequently swim right up to our boat which has it's engine off. Our boat was stopped on the southern end of San Juan Island in this photo
 photo by David Erich-Great timing and great camera lense 
Two Orca Whales swimming the coast line
 Harbor Seal  Mature Bald Eagles Anacortes Whale Watching Bellingham Whale Watching Seattle Whale Watching Everette Whale Watching
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
40 or fewer guests on board
