Fog, Steller Sea Lions and a Squirrley Family of Bigg’s Killer Whales

Maxx K. | M/V Sea Lion | 03/29/2022 | 12:30pm

    Today’s tour was wild. Sea Lion pulled out of Friday Harbor and veered south. Whale watching runs on rumors. Someone thinks they might have seen a blow on the horizon. They tell a friend. The friend tells a friend and before you know it we can confirm a congregation of five killer whales slowly making their way along the southern banks of Lopez island.

Naturally we...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | 2pm | 9/27/2021

Captain Gabe and I haven’t been on Kestrel together for a long time, and for that reason we knew it was going to be a great day. We left the dock with the only sighting report of the day, which was a long shot… but we were determined to make it work. We zipped out of the harbor and headed north through San Juan Channel while just about every other operator went south. It was a windy day with a rainy forecast, but we knew we could beat the weather...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | 2pm | 9/23/2021

Captain Eric and I zoomed out of the harbor, a new sighting report coming from the north, close to Waldron Island. We popped over to Flattop Island on our way to view the lazy harbor seals who were sprawled out on the rocky shoreline, thermoregulating their plump bodies. Birds dotted the trees and the wake around this small island, giving us a good glimpse (and smell) of the base of the food chain. 

Once we got on scene with the whales, we got...

September 18th, 2021

Abby | M/V Kestrel | 2pm | 9/18/2021

Captain Solan and I zoomed south in San Juan Channel, cumulonimbus clouds rising steadily in front of Mount Baker. We headed over to Goose Island where double-crested cormorants stood atop their haystack-style nests and glaucous gulls screeched loudly at the prospect of an opportunistic snack. Harbor seals, or “rock sausages,” lazily laid on the shoreline, intermittently raising an eye at our presence. A large bull kelp...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | 2pm | 9/9/2021

Captain Solan and I slipped out of the harbor, deliberately cruising south through San Juan Channel to spot many different species, including:

• Steller Sea Lions
• Harbor Seals
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• Pelagic Cormorants
• Glaucous-Winged Gulls
• Marbled Murrelets
• Pigeon Guillemots

As we were viewing a large congregation of birds feasting on a bait ball, Solan and I received word of a family of Biggs (transient) killer whales heading north through...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | 2pm | 9/8/2021

Captain Solan and I cruised out of the harbor with the intention of viewing what is known as a “T-Party,” where several families of transient, or Biggs, killer whales were playfully interacting with one another. We zipped in between Shaw and Lopez Island, through Obstruction Pass, and headed North through the Rosario Strait before seeing our first exhalations and dorsal fins dotting the surface of the water.

Below is a list of the matrilines we...

Abby & Maxx | Sea Lion | 6/23/2021

Whale, whale, whale. Hello there! Abby here.

I just got back from this stellar trip and am now on a complete orca high.

Captain Pete, Maxx, and I zipped out of Friday Harbor to find the T037A’s in San Juan Channel.

• Volker T037A (Female, 1994)
  
  • Inyo T037A1 (Gender Unknown, 2007)
  • Inky T037A2 (Male, 2009)
  • Spinnaker T037A3 (Male, 2013)
  • Crinkle T037A4 (Gender Unknown, 2015)

As we headed south through San Juan Channel, travelling parallel to our...

Abby & Maxx | Sea Lion | 6/23/2021

Whale, whale, whale. Hello there! Abby here.

I just got back from this stellar trip and am now on a complete orca high.

Captain Pete, Maxx, and I zipped out of Friday Harbor to find the T037A’s in San Juan Channel.

• Volker T037A (Female, 1994)
  
  • Inyo T037A1 (Gender Unknown, 2007)
  • Inky T037A2 (Male, 2009)
  • Spinnaker T037A3 (Male, 2013)
  • Crinkle T037A4 (Gender Unknown, 2015)

As we headed south through San Juan Channel, travelling parallel to our...

Abby | Kestrel | 7/15/2021

As if I thought my orca encounters couldn’t get any better, BAM! Today happened…

I suited up in fleece-lined pants, ready to take on the wind and waves that were about to disenchant the calm, put-together look I had so carefully compiled this morning. Weather reports came in of five-foot swells out in Haro Strait, and, as if right on cue, so did the killer whale reports. Captain Eric and I held on as we zoomed through San Juan Channel, 18 guests unaware...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | 06/08/2021 | 12:30pm

Today’s trip was spectacular! We departed North out of Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel. We traveled into President Channel where we spotted vessels gathered near the Canadian Border and Patos Island. The currents were flowing and rippling due to active upwelling - the process of nutrient-rich, cold water being pushed from the seafloor up towards the surface. The Salish Sea is full of phytoplankton and nutrients that support the...