Seals basking on rock outcrops. A Minke whale in Griffin Bay. A Stellar sea lion wrestling with an OCTOPUS? Yes at Cattle Pass.  Harbor porpoise on the port side! The sea lion won. Then off to Hein Bank to view a Humpback whale. One single humpback lazily coming up for air, then a 5 minute dive - going to Victoria.

What a day.

We traveled 60 miles round trip today, and boy was it worth it!

We found 2 Humpback Whales outside of Victoria, British Columbia near Race Rocks (48°18.14N, 123°30.73W).  The whales would surface four or five times, their powerful exhales vaporizing the water over their blowholes into a 10ft high mist, and then dive raising their tail flukes out of the water.  Fortunately their deeper dives lasted only 4-5 minutes so we had several opportunities to view these majestic beasties.

W...

Man was today a day for whales in Haro Strait; we saw a Humpback Whale (48°29.81N 123°11.95W) and 6 Transient Orcas (48°27.21N 123°09.33W)!!!!  There was also rumor of transients north, where most of the whale watch fleeted ended up going, but our decision to go south and around San Juan turned for the better. There were hardly any other boats around and we got the bonus of seeing a Humpback! Now if I were you, I would choose the San Juan Safaris crew.

Let's take a little risk...

What an incredible sight last night south of Victoria.  Tangerine orange sunset and TWO humpbacks feeding in synchronization…they could have won a gold medal for synchronized swimming!  These massive baleen whales were lunging for schooling fish and plankton.  We could see their throat pleats stretch as they swallowed large quantities of food.  Small fish were leaping out of the water in attempts to escape.  Guests had incredible photos of flukes and flippers.  It was a 50 mile round...

We held off long enough, but it seems like summer finally made it's way to the San Juan Islands! Absolutely beautiful afternoon, super clear skies and super flat seas. We left Friday Harbor heading north with word of a humpback whale in the area. We spotted the distinct, 10 foot plus blow of a large humpback whale just off the west end of Stuart Island. It was traveling north east around Turn Point before making a b-line across the US boarder into Canadian waters. It surfaced two...

We headed north to Canadian waters today; calm waters and warm sun made for a wonderful boat ride.  As we approached Saturna Island, we saw the spray…the spray of the humpback whale.  We observed this marine mammal feeding in Boundary Pass (48°43.982N, 123°08.698W), and had the opportunity to watch the fluke dip into the water.  As this type of whale has baleen plates, it was likely feeding on krill or a variety of small schooling fish.  Several rhinoceros auklets were around, hoping...

Tons of whale action today; three Minke Whales and even a Humpback!!! (Salmon Bank, 48°25.01N 122°59.19W)

Humpbacks typically don’t come this far inland, to San Juan Island, so it was a great treat! These whales couldn’t be more graceful raising their fluke entirely out of the water and slowly diving down without a splash. They are THE true mermaids of the sea.

On our way in we saw tons of other wildlife including Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Steller Sea Lions, and Harbor Porpoise.

Wha...

The 4th of July proved to be a WHALE of a day! 

Members of J- and L-pods were observed traveling north along the west side of San Juan Island near Lime Kiln Point State Park (48°30.3261N, 123°10.8999W).  L87 “Onyx” was exhibiting foraging behavior, surfacing quickly and changing direction frequently.  We also saw J28 “Polaris” traveling with a younger whale.  While watching the Southern Resident Killer Whales a Humpback Whale surfaced near Small Pox Bay also traveling...

Today was amazing! Before the boat even left the slip, we saw a curious little harbor seal poke his head out of the water to check us out. Then, we actually left Friday Harbor and headed north towards Spieden Island where we saw mouflon sheep at the southern point. Along the island there was a group of sika deer right by the water's edge, and a couple of babies running along next to their mothers. At the end of Spieden there was a bald eagle perched at the top of the tallest tree...

point roberts

Today we definitely went the extra mile. Out of the harbor we were immediately faced with a tough decision… head south to a confirmed Humpback Whale sighting that we could easily reach, or take the chance of catching up with some Orcas that were spotted in Canada and heading north.

Captain Mike went with his gut and we headed north. We made our way through the San Juan Channel and Presidents Channel seeing several Harbor Porpoises, Harbor Seals, and even a few...