When it comes to orca mating, researchers do not know how the pairs are established.  Mating is indiscriminate, meaning that males and females do not stay together.  Females raise the calf with their family and the males help to raise their siblings, cousins, etc.  It has even been theorized that the matriarch has some say in who will pair with whom and when.  Talk about a nosy in-law.

If the matriarchs do not condone, or even establish, when the mating will take place, and we know...

Compass Rose

All of the old mariner's tales that you have heard about the watery deep are true.  She is unpredictable, untameable and undeniable.  She giveth and she taketh away, and usually when you least expect it.  Here in the Salish Sea, nestled amongst the San Juan Islands, it is no different.  Each day and every trip is different.  The weather changes just like a woman changes her mind and everyone knows that there is no arguing with that.  The water will be glass one...

I know, you are probably wondering what in the world that word is and how it could possibly be pronounced.  Well, both fall under the category of easy to explain.  Mysticetes (MISS-ti-seats or MICE-ti-seats) are baleen whales that filter feed on small prey items.  Of course, all baleen whales are filter feeders, that is what baleen is for, the difference comes in what they are filtering out of the waters.

Humpback Whale mouth with baleen. Photo courtesy of kidcyber.com.au

The...

Last evening we headed towards the southern tip of San Juan where Cattle Point Lighthouse is located.  This is our last week of sunset tours and I'm really going to miss the way that lighthouse looks against a setting sun.  That thought was interrupted when we spotted Stellar Sea Lions showing off their large bodies on Whale Rocks.  These sea lions can weigh up to 2200 lbs!  We continued up the west side of San Juan where we encountered the L-pod around False Bay.  The whales...

Yesterdays afternoon trip saw a little seen baleen whale - a minke. There are only about 18 minke whales in and around the islands. Our guests got very good looks at this whale in the afternoon both from the MV Sea Lion and the smaller MV Kittiwake.

Last evening on the 5;30 tour the resident orca whales were back in range and Captain Craig said they saw lots and lots of whales.  He thought possibly all 90 of them - not just in one spot of course.

This afternoon boat boats are again...

Rainbow Over San Juan Island by Bill Wright

A bit tardy, but we do see some wonderful rainbows here on San Juan Island

Side Breach and Straight Ahead Orca Whale by Sosha Mathew

Lone Orca Whale Off San Juan Island at Sunset, by Sosha Mathew

Snoozing Seals and Gulls, by by Sosha Mathew

From our Sunday, August 1, 2010 Tour. These will be entered into our photo contest. Thanks Sosha!

Finally it looks like the fog may be clearing. We still had a foggy morning but it quickly cleared out and turned into a beautiful day. This afternoon was a true safari. We started off by observing some harbor seals basking in the sun...it's rough being a harbor seal! Then we moved over to whale rocks to observe a couple of stellar sea lions.  These amazing creatures can weigh between 1500-3000 lbs depending upon the sex of the animal. Sea lions are capable of "walking" on land using...

Fog is fascinating and something I miss about the Central Valley of California.  After driving in tule fog in the dark anything else seems like gravy.  (Meaning easy, not, as thick as.)  In the past few days though, the islands have delivered up some pretty good shows of fog.  Last night was absolutely surreal, what with us being on a boat floating around in something that resembled a dream since we could not see more than 100 yards in any direction.  Forget about seeing land.  It...

Today we left Friday Harbor and headed south down the east side of San Juan Island through Cattle Pass. Cattle Pass is known for torrential currents because both Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan De Fuca converge demanding to be let through. In the midst of Cattle Pass we saw stacked nests of Double Crested Cormorants on Goose Island, Harbor Seals hauled out on Whale Rocks and a Bald Eagle fishing on Long Island.

The snow capped peaks of the Olympic Penninsula were clearly visible...