What an absolutely beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest! M/V Sea Lion left the dock early this afternoon with the sun sparkling on the water and a light breeze blowing - perfect conditions for whale watching. Instead of turning north today, we veered south, enjoying stunning views of the southern tip of San Juan Island on our way across the Straight of Juan de Fuca. We were in search of some transient killer whales that had been spotted earlier this morning. 

Along the way, we were...

Today we mixed things up a little bit by going south instead of north. Capt. Mike, Alex, and I motored out into Griffen Bay, then into the big wide blue of the waters south of the islands. This is where the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, and Puget Sound all meet up. So there is a lot of deep water. More water though means more chances for whales! We headed south with amazing views of the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier around 100 miles away. After scanning for a while we...

Yesterday, Captain Pete, Sarah Cutting, and I set off on a classic Pacific Northwest day full of low hanging clouds, mist scarping the trees, and that filtered light that makes all the green in western Washington sing. We started off north and scooted by Flattop Island to look at some Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks and swimming in the kelp beds around this federally protected island. Next we headed further north towards Saturna Island in Canada, right where two major waterways...

There are two ecotypes of killer whales that inhabit the Salish Sea throughout the year – the transients and the residents. Killer whale ecotypes are both genetically and behaviorally distinct, meaning they don’t interbreed, they have different behaviors, they speak different languages, and they look slightly different. The main distinguisher between transient and resident killer whales is their feeding habits. While transient killer whales feed on marine mammals, resident killer...

A new paper has come out indicating that Orcas’ evolution has been partially driven by culture. There are ten ecotypes worldwide. They each have different prey, look a little bit different, but most importantly their behavior differs between each ecotype as well. This stems from the fact that many of their behaviors are learned behaviors including hunting methods, communication, and socialization activities. The distinct ecotypes have developed different forms of a lot of these...

We pushed off from the dock today with a full boat, feeling chilly but hopeful. It wasn’t long before we got reports of humpbacks in Active Pass within the Southern Gulf Islands in Canada, so we headed north out of Friday Harbor hoping to get a look.

On our way out of San Juan Channel, we got some quick looks at some harbor seals and an adult bald eagle before we crossed into Canadian waters and heard some more good news – the pair of humpbacks we were approaching were Big Mama and...

We started off the day with hopeful reports of a group of transient killer whales just off of Victoria, BC. As we left the dock, we headed south down the San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point, the southernmost tip of San Juan Island. We stopped briefly to catch a look at a large group of harbor seals hauled out on a rocky bank only to realized that on the other side of the rocks was a large group of Steller sea lions, with a few California sea lions dispersed among them. The male...

It’s still not summer. Despite the past unseasonably warm weather, El Niño, and new predictions for this to be a La Niña year, late may has brought some grey weather and some sporadic showers, but great whales! Captain Mike, Alex, Sarah, and I headed south to head to the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to check out the sea mounds over there. Sea mounds are kind of like hills submerged in water, and are great places to find groupings of plankton, tiny fish, bigger fish, and...

It was another hot one here in the San Juan Islands on Monday, especially for May, but that means were get a little bit more sun and after a long, grey winter that is okay sometimes. Captain Mike and I set out with high hopes and headed north with a wonderful group of folks. We headed so far north that we eventually made it into Canada, and soon there they were. You could see the blows first and then large, dark, shark-like fins slicing through the water as this family of Transient...

1. Humpback Whales Are Huge!

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is the 5th largest of the great whales. An adult humpback whale can grow to 60 feet in length and weigh up to 80,000 pounds. As with most baleen whales, female humpback whales are larger than males. The largest recorded humpback whale was a female estimated to be 89 feet long and nearly 200,000 pounds. 

Also known as the “big-winged New Englander,” humpback whales are most recognized  for their disproportionally...