What better way to end a busy day shopping in Friday Harbor than on the calm waters of the Salish Sea?  Surrounded by marine wildlife in every direction, this evening's sunset tour was quiet the safari!  The adventure started with the misty blows of orca whales off Spieden Island.  As we approached them we were able to identify a few members of Jpod, including the impressive adult male "Ruffles", 100-year old "Granny", and "Blackberry".  They traveled in a large closely knit pod...

What a pleasant surprise the gorgeous weather was today.  The sun was shining, it was warm and there were whales! What more could one really ask for? Except for the whales to be headed right in our direction,  and as it turned out they were!!   The plan was to head straight for the whales which were reported to be near Saturna Island just at the border between the United States and  Canada. Captain Craig informed us that we would not be making any stops so that we could make it to...

Reports were in early of the southern resident J pod sightings around Active pass. While this is good news it can also mean that the whales may be just out of our reach should they continue north.  Active pass is in Canada so this meant we were in for a long haul. Luckily Captain Craig put the pedal to the metal and we made it out to see J pod! Although they were spread out we did get some close looks at an adult male and two sets of female calf pairs. The dorsal fin of an adult male...

Okay, well it was actually all of us on the M/V Sea Lion that were doing the rocking and rolling, but I am sure that the orcas were having some fun too.  Especially if all of the breaches by the calf were any indication of their state of mind.  The waters were rough, (unusual for the San Juan Islands), but our guests were tougher and we prevailed in the end.  The orcas were spread all along the south end of San Juan Island in little clusters that were hard to find until we stumbled...

It was a bit of a rocky day out there with 2 foot swells, but it was still a great day!  The Southern Resident L- pod was first spotted off False Bay on the southwest side of the island. The pod was spread out into several smaller groups.  We chose to take a look at a smaller group that seemed to be frolicking in the waves. They picked up speed to porpoise over them. Eventually they moved offshore to slightly calmer waters and milled about.  We continued along the west side of the...

Working as a Naturalist, I have become accustomed to going with the flow (pardon the nautical idiom.) This is often an acquired skill for people, as wildlife has a way of constantly thwarting our wishes to watch them in their natural setting. With a world now filled with zoos, aquariums, and Sea Worlds expectations are often high to have wildlife cooperate with our desires, even ones outside these man-made settings. The orcas have started coming back into this area very frequently -...

Today was a unique day. Most of the 23 people aboard the Sea Lion were part of a wedding party. The funny thing is, no one told me a couple was getting married on board. It was innocuously written in our reservation book. When I asked the pastor if he needed the space cleared of people for the ceremony he said to me "These are all our guests." And he didn't just mean the people they'd brought with them. There were several guests in the cabin who didn't even realize two people were...

Today was a day you could not beat here in the San Juan Islands.  The sky was clear, the weather warm (for the Pacific Northwest) and the water was calm.  No one could seem to find orcas (remember, the world's largest dolphin) or whales today, but we had a lovely cruise around the San Juan and the Canadian Gulf Islands.  There were harbor seals, Steller's sea lions and harbor porpoises stretched to the horizon.  At boiling reef, which was rather odoriferous today, there were dozens...

Capt. Mike and I saved the day aboard the M/V Sea Lion today.  There have been no orca sightings for several days despite all of the companies being out and scouring the watery countryside.  We were taking our place amongst them and heading out on a northwest wildlife tour when out of the blue, literally, popped an orca fin!  What, an orca fin?!  Yes, an orca fin!!  I, maintaining professionalism and decorum at all times, proceeded to run around the boat yelling and effusing.  San...

Well, we did not find orcas, but we did find plenty of other cool creatures.  On a boat built for 50, we had 7 people, so it was like having a private tour.  The guests and captains and I were relaxed and open to any new experiences that might come our way.

In that light we decided to head farther northwest than we usually do when going on a wildlife tour.  We traveled up President's Channel and around Patos Island, a state marine park.  I got to tell everyone about the historic...