Well we are all becoming overly familiar with the Canadian waters these days.  Reports were in that once again the Orcas were near the coal docks but it was music to our ears to hear they were at least headed south our direction. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride so we didn't mind the extra time it took to reach the whales. The whales were spread out in many small groupings and very active. We saw many breaches and lots of tail slapping. It's always exciting to see but even more...

Sunday, July 18th, 2010 was an evening to remember.  The crew aboard the M/V Sea Lion never thought they would be so deeply touched in the presence of the orca whales.  We spotted at least 12 members of the L-pod traveling in small groups of 3-5 near Eagle Point.  The calm waters on the west side of San Juan Island made for perfect viewing conditions.  Adult and juvenile whales were hauling their large, glossy bodies out of the water left and right.  Breaching, spy hopping...

You could not ask for more out of the San Juan Islands than what we got today.  Sun, sea and sightings all wrapped up in one stunningly beautiful package.  The sea was a bit of a surprise today since we endured some bouncing around as we traveled up and around the north and west sides of San Juan Island.  But the orcas were racing along and made for excellent photo specimens, plus the spray in our faces just reminded us of how lucky we were to be out on the water.  When it was...

I do not know what has the orcas so wound up this season, but I have seen more breaches in the past week than I saw all of last season.  I love that they are being so enthusiastic and since it always seems to be paired with aggressive feeding I would like to think that this means that we are having an extraordinary return of salmon.  I expect this sort of behavior from the calves and juveniles, but there have been some monster shows of aerial acrobatics from the adults as well.  A...

Who would think that a heat wave would hit Friday Harbor?  It has though and while this is not one of those melt-your-shoes-to-the-sidewalk kind of heat waves, it has had an affect on life here.  For one thing, there is no such thing as air conditioning on San Juan Island.  Maybe not in the whole of the Pacific Northwest, I am not sure.  Next, everything is in rapid bloom mode.  Flowers are practically faded before they can even escape the confines of their sepals.  Lastly, it makes...

Naturalist Sallly with Whale Watching Guests aboard MV Sea Lion

SuperPod. That got my attention. I got into gear and called staffer Ellie to see if she would watch the office. I am out of here!
Needlesstosay, I had a wonderful three hour mini vacation on my own boat with an unbeatable crew.

Here are some not-so-professional photos of the 3 hours

Whale Watching Guests Photographing

Haying on San Juan Island

Ok. So the hay is not from the whale watching tour. But this is what...

In the San Juan Islands, we are blessed with an abundance of wildlife. We are one of 7 places on Earth with a high population of orcas. Almost every single day for the past two weeks we have seen them off the west side of our very own island, San Juan. The west side of the island is where the land based whale watching park is located. Like a stationary sentinel, it watches the orcas foraging off the cliffs below.  We are one of the few places in the world where you can see 'black and...

Meaning that it was calm and relaxed and just a chill day on the water.  L pod is known for being a little more relaxed in their activities and that energy carries over to the whole trip.  A calf did treat us to a goodbye breach though.  Our cruise started out with some excitement when a bald eagle flew over the M/V Sea Lion just after we pulled out of our slip.  Despite the sea gulls that were trying to chase it away the eagle dropped down to the water, talons extended, and pulled...

Softly we sat and watched the whales about 700 yards away from us. At first we could only see white wake, their bodies like boats zooming through the water. As we waited, their dorsal fins began to loom in the distance. We followed them as they swam parallel to us west along the south side of Stuart Island, reuniting with their pod at Turn Point Light House.  It was a slow but satiating afternoon as we watched the orcas loll about the land, hugging the shore. Bright, sunny, peaceful...

Ok, not really, but wouldn't that be cool.  We did spend time with the orcas though and had a lovely afternoon on the west side of San Juan Island.  There was Ruffles, our big old male, some of his other J pod mates and lots of swimming going on.  Not every encounter with the orcas is a circus of breaches and spyhops, but any day that we spend with them is a good one and good days is what we are all about.

Even days without orcas are good days, because there is always something...