We had wonderful views of 4 Transient Killer Whales!  We first saw the Orca Whales near Green Point as they were traveling north.  The pod included one physically mature male, he was massive.  When we arrived on scene, the whales were taking turns slapping their tail flukes on the surface before they continued traveling north.  They then circumnavigated Flattop Island, performed several lobtails and once again continued north. 

After viewing the Transient Orca Whales we found...

Literally minutes before our departure Captain Mike received a report of 2 Transient Killer Whales in the area!  Yahoozle! 

We found the whales near Kettle Bluff on the westside of Henry Island (48°36.15N, 123°12.60W).  The whales were identified as T20, a mature male, and T21 a female, most likely his mother.  The whales were traveling north, tightly against the shoreline.  Initially their behavior was predictable: several breaths at the surface before a deeper dive as they...

Southern Resident Killer Whales were spread out over 2 miles and traveling south through Boundary Pass today. 

In total we spent time viewing 15 Killer Whales, but many other individuals were observed surfacing in the distance.  It didn’t matter in which direction you looked there were Orcas!  It was absolutely fan-tastic!

In the first group, there were 8 individuals including a mature male and also a young calf.  Initially these whales were traveling in two smaller groups, one...

As we left Friday Harbor there were no reports of Orca Whales so we motored south where a few Minke Whales had been seen.  Along the way we stopped for harbor seals resting on Turn Island and Steller Sea Lions sunning themselves on Whale Rocks.  We then cruised to Salmon Bank to look for the Minke Whales.  We only had to wait a few minutes before a Minke Whale surfaced 200 yards from the boat!   At that same time the Captain received a call on the radio that Orca Whales had been...

Herb Hartman, photographer, has gone out whale watching with us so many times that he is considered an honorary staff member.
Here are photos from his two tours, one at 1:30 and one at 5:30 from August 13, 2012.

We began our Sunset Tour heading south through the San Juan Channel.  We stopped at Turn Island to see if anyone was home and sure enough a number of Harbor Seals were resting on the rocky shores of the intertidal zone.  After spending a few minutes with the Harbor Seals we continued motoring south and saw 7 Steller Sea Lions relaxing on Whale Rocks.  Another 2 Sea Lions were swimming nearby; these two individuals were very curious and kept inching closer to the boat as they...

Fantastic wildlife viewing today! Caught up with Southern Resident Killer Whales off East Point, Saturna Island, BC (48°27.25N, 123°02.35W). Viewed a large group of tightly packed members of J Pod, with J-37 (Hy’Shqa) and new baby tucked in between, moving westerly off Saturna Island at a slow pace. Lots of tail slapping, lob tailing, breaching, spy-hopping. Saw Bald Eagles in the trees and sitting on the rocks off Cactus Island. Guests witnessed a breathtaking dive bomb to the water...

Exciting day on the water! Leaving the harbor under rainy skies, we traveled north around San Juan Island. Happily, the skies dried and the sun soon came out just as we caught up with members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales in Haro Strait. Traveling along the west side of Stuart Island and milling in the Turn Point area (first sighted at 48°40.67N 123°14.92W) were: Onyx (L87), along with Slick (J-16) and her calf, Echo (J-42), Mike (J-26) and Alki (J-36). Our next sighting...

On last night’s sunset cruise we caught up with two groups of about 20+ Southern Resident Killer Whales headed south in Rosario Strait between Cypress and Blakely Island (48°34.46N, 123°46.05W). They hadn’t gone far since the greeting ceremony earlier that day, but you could tell the excitement had worn on them. They appeared to be resting, moving at a steady pace in unison, only coming up for 3-5 breaths before taking long dives.

From what we had identified, it was members of L-pod...

Several members of the Southern Resident Killer Whale population were seen in Rosario Strait today (48°38.49N, 122°43.12W). The whales were spread out from Lummi and Sinclair Islands all the way to Orcas Island.

The Killer Whales were initially traveling in small groups of 3-4 individuals before forming one larger group. This larger group, of at least 12 whales, were traveling in very close proximity with one another, and appeared to be swimming and surfacing right on top of each...