The sun was shining and the waters were calm as we headed north in search of wildlife. Just as we left Friday Harbor, we spotted a harbor seal poking his head out of the water and slowed down to get a better look. We continued our journey enjoying the beautiful day and the sites of the surrounding islands. As we reached the west side of San Juan Island north of Lime Kiln, we saw what we were looking for, killer whales! Lots of them! The pod was spread out so we didn’t know which...

Woooeeee, the whales made us work for it today!  Resident killer whales were reported at nearly the farthest point we can travel on our trips and they weren't coming our way south either.  We loaded up both boats and headed north right out of Friday Harbor with not a moment to spare to stop and gaze at other islands as we went.  We crossed the border into Canada at the Haro Straight, went into Plumper Sound and  between Mayne and Saturna Islands to pop out on the other side in the...

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...

Northbound along the west side of San Juan Island, we encountered about eight orcas allegedly belonging to both J and K resident pods.  From the get go, we saw curious whale behavior of tail-slapping, a pec fin slap and eventually even a head stand with the white of the tail exposed!  As they continued swimming north away from the island, the whales maintained a fairly tight formation and we were able to get a possible ID of the lone adult male of the group as J30, Riptide.  Was he...

Any time you're thinking about getting on a boat, check the sky and then cross your fingers.  Today we had intermittent sunshine over Friday Harbor and dark gray low-hanging clouds to the south.  And to the south we went... with fingers crossed that the clouds would continue out to sea and away from our projected travels.

Just before leaving the protection of the islands, we saw a handful of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks exchanging 48 degree Celsius water for slightly warmer...

We narrowly escaped the rain today; luckily, by trip departure time it was done raining in the San Juan Islands.  Overcast weather and threats of rain don't keep the whales away though and as we rounded Cattle Point and came up along the west side in some choppy waves, we were rewarded for our perseverance: J-pod was back from their few-day stint at sea.

Spread out in a long line along the west coast, we watched the orcas travel in their smaller groups past Lime Kiln State Park.  One...

Today we got spoiled: we had a choice between two transient killer whale pods!  The first group was called in as located off Sidney Island on the Canadian side of the Haro straight.  We left the harbor with these whales in mind but then we got another call; a second pod was seen between Saturna and South Pender Islands.

Once we caught up with this second group, we found that there were three animals in the pod: one male, one female and one calf.  Even with lots of helpful eyes on the...

My favorite trip of the year so far.

Flat, calm, no wind, beautiful lighting, and thanks to the hockey game we were the only boat sitting off of Sidney Island with a pod of 5 transient orcas.  There was one big male, one calf, one other juvenile and a couple of larger adults (at least one was a mom).  They were swimming south, taking five minute dives, with long surface intervals when their behavior changed drastically.  They dove and then surfaced inshore of where they were...

The M/V Sea lion departed Friday Harbor with reports of Transient Orcas coming from Thatcher Pass.  We motored past Yellow Island and stopped to check out some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks.  After that we headed towards Green Point on Spieden Island and noticed some blows on the north side of the island.  They turned out to be the Transients we had been looking for.  Accordingly to some other boats in the area they had just made a kill, but it was hard for us to tell if they...

We met the first of J-pod at South Beach and watched as they hauled north toward Eagle Point, with some porpoising at the fast pace. On our way back toward Friday Harbor the rest of the pod came into view as we approached Cattle Point. This lagging group was full of youngsters and moving in a tighter formation, but slower pace. There were two mature males present that I believe were Blackberry (J-27) and Mike (J-26). The newest additions to the pod appeared to be practicing their lob...