Today we had a wonderful encounter with my old friend, the Minke whale.  We left the harbor and headed south.  Just before Cattle Point we noticed lots of splashing.  We moved toward the disturbance and saw two harbor seals acting very peculiarly.  One seal would lay, flat out, on the surface of the water.  The other seal would lunge at it, bite it, and then porpoise and slap its back flippers on the surface.  Over and over again we watched the same scene play out.  Perhaps a...

Every morning I come in to work, nervous about what the day may hold, but also excited about the prospect of seeing whales.  There is a lot of pressure on us as naturalists, captains, and crew to find the whales and keep the passengers happy, which is why we get so very excited when we hear two sweet words...South side!

Gotta love it when the whales are close and we get to spend time with multiple groups. I do love a good drive up north every now and then, but sometimes it is just...

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

Last evening I got out from behind the computer and went out on the whale watching tour that departs at 5:30.

We went out of Friday Harbor, then south down the east side of San Juan Island.

About 1 mile off the south west side of San Juan Island  there were many, MANY whales.

It was an exceptionally active bunch of whales that we viewed for about 40 minutes. The energy! Breach after breach. Slap after slap. Even the youngsters were getting into the act.

I have a new camera. A...

We headed south with word that there were killer whales heading towards False Bay. It was a beautiful sunny day; both the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges were visible in the distance. As we rode past south beach we saw at least ten harbor seals bobbing their heads out of the water near shore. Shortly after, there were spouts in the distance. It was J-pod! After seeing the first spouts, dorsal fins came up from all directions. On male was identified as Blackberry. The pod was...

We departed Friday Harbor and headed north.  There was absolutely no wind and the water was like glass.  An incredible night for whale watching.  We caught up to J-pod around Monarch Head on Saturna island.  There were about six animals traveling very close to each other, and very close to shore.  We had perfect lighting for all the photographers on the boat to get some great shots of the whales surfacing together.  We even had some passengers capture the elusive 'spyhop' behavior on...

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...

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

We headed north out of Friday Harbor with reports that there were some orcas coming down the Strait of Georgia towards Saturna Island. On our way to start our search in Canadian waters we were lucky enough to encounter lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks at Yellow Island and some more at White Rocks.

From there we headed across the border at Boundary Pass and had everyone on board helping us look for signs of orca. Once we passed the Canadian Navy and a large cargo ship we...

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...