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 headed north out of Friday Harbor with reports that there were some orcas coming down the Strait of Georgia towards Saturna Island. On our way to start our search in Canadian waters we were lucky enough to encounter lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks at Yellow Island and some more at White Rocks.

From there we headed across the border at Boundary Pass and had everyone on board helping us look for signs of orca. Once we passed the Canadian Navy and a large cargo ship we...

The season officially started last Saturday with some beautiful days and plentiful Harbor Seals and Stellar Sea lions.  But the real show was today aboard the M/V Sea Lion.  We had reports of J-pod out towards Victoria and heading West into the Strait of Juan De Fuca.  We boarded our passengers a little early and went for it.

The rain was coming down steadily but cleared as we approached Discovery Island.  Pretty soon the whales were up ahead.  Somewhere between 10 and 14 members of...

Linking killer whale survival and prey abundance: food limitation in the oceans

This study came out by John K. B. Ford, Graeme M. Ellis, Peter F. Olesiuk and Kenneth C. Balcomb, all highly esteemed whale scientists.

Here is an except:  Resident killer whales are primarily salmonid predators that show strong selectivity for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), probably because of this species' comparatively large size, high lipid content, and year-round...

Orcas off B.C.’s coast love the taste of shark

But they’re wearing their teeth flat on the abrasive skin of the sleeper shark, study says

By Larry Pynn, Vancouver SunJanuary 17, 2011 Scientists know little about the offshore killer whales, identified off the coast in 1989, due to their nomadic movements.

Photograph by: Brian Gisborne, handout

A mysterious population of offshore killer whales in B.C. are specialists at killing sharks — to the detriment of their teeth...

Naturalist Gear Down Friday November 5, 2010 10 to 4 organized by The Whale Museum

I took my first naturalist class in about 1996 from The Whale Museum. Enjoyed it and learned so much I took it at least another three times.

This class, organized by The Whale Museum, was the ‘gear down’ session or ‘end of the season’ get together for reviewing and learning for both professional naturalists and  naturalists not working in the field.

Greg Hertel, a now retired school teacher gave a...

Today was an exceptional day, amazing wildlife everywhere and beautiful weather! The animals seemed to get bigger and bigger as we continued our trip. We started by observing some harbor seals warming themselves on the rocks, these animals weigh about 300lbs as adults. Our next stop was the much larger Sea Lions that we spotted in Cattle pass. They have been hanging out in this area fishing for the past few days and it's been exciting each time to see them.  We were now on our way...

Click on this link to hear Orcas Vocalizing -The Hydrophone on the MV Sea Lion August 2010

and see part of the whale watching tour

It has been said by the locals that this is the largest run of Sockeye Salmon we've EVER had (at least in a lifetime). Everywhere you looked off the west side today, there were purseiners, fish jumping and orcas feeding. Fat and happy whales, they lolled about slowly, on long dives, taking their time, scooping up all of the salmon that would fit in their conically toothed mouths. Some of them must be eating for two. We can't see when an orca is gestating because they have a large...

The oldest member of the Southern Resident Community is named Granny. She is estimated to be a 100 years old. She is also the matriarch of J-pod. Her cohort is a 60 year old male named Ruffles. Ruffle's dorsal fin is 5 to 6 feet tall, a common measurement for adult males, as compared to the 2 to 3 foot tall dorsal fin of the average female. A juvenile male is indistinguishable from a female with the exception of their ventral markings. A small black dot on each side of the ventral...