I saw more whales breaching today than any other whale watch I have ever been on!  Just off the southern west side of San Juan Island we were able to witness the super pod greeting ceremony of the southern resident killer whales. This super pod is referring to J , K, and L pods being in one area where they come back together in a place with a high density of food ( chinook salmon) to potentially breed and share knowledge and customs. But what does this mean for a whale watching boat...

J Pod made an appearance this past week traveling through Haro Strait.  With exceptionally high winds this week, the Haro has been rougher than usual, but this did not stop J Pod from trudging through.  In the summer months the Haro Strait is often very calm, as it is very protected by Vancouver Island.  During winter months, the normally placid waters around San Juan, can become windswept and whitecaped.

Of the 3 Southern Resident Pods, J Pod stays closest to home during the winter...

When I heard the vocalizations of orcas at the Lime Kiln hydrophone this morning, I knew it would be an entertaining day. The whale chatter seemed excited and endless!

Several hours later when we were viewing the same animals from the M/V Sea Lion, they were still partying hard. We watched a large group of Southern Resident Killer Whales begin to disperse as they entered Boundary Pass from Turn Point, heading toward the Pender Island bluffs. Soon small socializing groups of...

It’s not often that we get to choose between viewing Bigg’s Killer Whales or Southern Resident Killer Whales on the same trip. That was the case today. I wish we could spread out this luck for the guests who didn’t get to see any killer whales on their trip. For a time during peak summer, we were striking out trip after trip, at a time when killer whale sightings should have been at their peak. That unpredictability is part of the fun of viewing killer whales in the wild.

So what did...

For the last two days the M/V Sea Lion and guests have been enjoying watching our Southern Resident Killer Whales. These Orcas are notorious for feeding on Chinook Salmon and do so at about 300-400 lbs per day! We've been seeing some great foraging behavior lately as well as lot's of social behavior! We've seen them feeding, breaching, spyhoping, cartwheeling, logging, and even mating! These Orcas are very social and love to vocalize. One of everyone's favorite things about the...

Caitlin, myself, and captain Mike left our Friday Harbor location today to head to the West side of San Juan Island. There is usually only one reason why we head to the West side. Yep, you guessed it! The Southern Resident Killer Whales are back and we were all VERY excited to welcome them home!

A "superpod" is a phenomenon when all 82 Resident Orcas travel together, usually to get to one area- in our case come back into the Salish Sea! Superpod days are always my favorite, and even...

Blogging is always so much easier as a naturalist when you have amazing trips. I must say, I have been extremely fortunate throughout the 2013 season in having great trips. Tonight was another one of those top five best nights. Our Southern Resident Killer Whales surprised us all, as they usually do, by swimming the (roughly) 90 mile voyage from the western side of Vancouver Is. BC into the northern waters of the Puget Sound. It's not uncommon for Killer Whales to swim 100+ miles a...

Today was quite the day with lots of wildlife to be seen! Caitlin, Captain Mike, and I were paired up as a team once again and had a fabulous trip! It looked dark and ominous as we went though Cattle Pass out towards the Olympic Mountains, but it never rained a drop. We saw lots of Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoise, and Bald Eagles as we motored out towards the whales. It's always great to see such a variety of wildlife!

When we got to the L-22s (part of our Southern Resident Killer...

We headed south today and kept high spirits through the cloudy, cold weather. It wasn't long before we saw our Harbor Seals and Steller Seal Lion at Cattle Pass! The Stellers never cease to amazing me with their size! These guys are just huge, weighing in at almost two ton.

After watching the seals we headed out to find our black and white friends! When we caught up with them, Emily and I quickly identified the J-Pod members that we were watching. Our "Cookie Clan" was there...

The endangered population of Southern Resident Killer Whales that frequent the salmon-rich waters of the Salish Sea form “superpod” only a handful of times during the summer season. Three extended families (known as J, K, and L pod) join together and travel as one unit, making up only 82 remaining members. Superpod is characterized by a great deal of social behavior, including breaching, mating, and vocalizing. At this point in the season, we would expect to have seen all three...