Headed out between Shaw and Lopez Islands, past Orcas and out towards Lummi Island, we were in search of the ever-popular but very elusive (in the Pacific Northwest) humpback whale.  Clocking in at an average 45 feet (school bus size) and 80,000 pounds, they are in the top ten largest animals to ever roam the Earth.  Could we find one?

We saw boats out by Lummi, and continued towards them.  And then, we saw a blow!  And then another.  But wait, there was another set of blows!  We had...

It wasn’t exactly the nicest day on San Juan Island, but having it rain did not prevent us from going out and seeing the wildlife the Salish Sea has to offer. We first saw a bald eagle perched in a dead looking tree. Then, we saw some whales I haven’t seen for over two months…transients! There were four of them, traveling very quickly, their dorsal fins waving in front of us. It was the T-19 group, and I love seeing the transients because they are really the coolest, top predator of...

It was a beautiful trip from the beginning today!  Heading out of Friday Harbor on a wonderfully clear day we were able to get some amazing views of the snow-capped Mt. Baker.  The usual sunbatheing Harbor seals were all out in about swimming on both sides of the boat and we got a great view of a tiny harbor seal pup swimming along! Continuing on our way out we passed by a few stellar sea lions also in the water and one with a fish in it's mouth!  We rounded cattle point and headed...

Southward from sunny Friday Harbor quickly led us to dense fog with visibility at maybe 100 yards (maybe) just before Cattle Pass.  Armed with radar, the captain navigated us through the pass and over to Whale Rocks where we found seven large stellar sea lions and numerous harbor seals hauled out, warming up and napping.  Even in fog, the air was warmer than the 50 degree waters around the San Juan Islands!

Battling our way through more fog, with other boats appearing and...

Thursday brought blue skies and calm seas.  However, there were no reports of anyone seeing any Orcas in the Salish Sea.  So we took the best lead we had and headed towards Victoria to try and find the elusive Humpback Whale.

On the way out we encountered lots of harbor seals bobbing in the tide and even a couple bald eagles soaring above the south end of the island.  After those encounters we motored across Haro Strait toward Victoria.  The last reports we heard were of two animals...

Wildlife abounds in the San Juan Islands, but only if you like bald eagles.  And harbor seals.  Oh, and Stellar sea lions.  And minke whales, pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, common murres, cormorants, turkey vultures, mouflon sheep, black-tailed deer, fallow deer, sika deer, and maybe some bald eagles and vultures fighting over shreds from a dead-and-beached harbor seal carcass.  But only if you're into all that!

From Friday Harbor, we got the call of vultures and bald eagles...

Right out the gates, we headed south and just before Cattle Pass we encountered a harbor seal munching on a salmon it had just caught!  At first, two gulls were interested in the seal's catch but each time it surfaced, another gull and then another and then another came on until there were ten gulls fighting for a piece of the salmon prize.  Wait a minute, did the gulls even do any of the dirty work to catch that salmon?!  Oh, scavengers.

Around the west side of San Juan Island, we...

Sky and sea blended together as we left Friday Harbor this afternoon. It was overcast and a bit foggy, but spirits were high in the hopes of finding killer whales. We headed south, and as we turned around Cattle Point it started to clear up, giving us good visibility. As soon as we reached False Bay, off in the distance was a large, triangular dorsal fin. Soon after that we were surrounded by killer whales, and even got to see a younger one breach three times before swimming off.

We...

We headed out of Friday Harbor with some very fun and excited passengers.  Our first stop was right around the corner with some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and we even saw a tiny little pup trying to climb on its moms back while swimming in the current.  We continued on through Cattle Pass and quickly found a great group of Orcas near False Bay.  As we slowly approached and started watching one group, we saw even more whales in every direction around us.  The word from other...

We headed south out of Friday Harbor this afternoon with word that there were killer whales around False Bay. On our way to the west side, we spotted a few harbor porpoises in the distance and some harbor seals poking their heads out of the water. Once at False Bay we caught a glimpse of three dorsal fins and some spouts, then there were six+ dorsal fins all coming up from underneath the glassy Salish Sea. It was J-pod. They were slowly traveling close to each other, nearly...