Olivia | July 31st, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

This evening, the whales made our job very easy! Captain Pete and I brought our passengers around the northern side of San Juan Island, through Spieden Channel, and down towards Lime Kiln. Prior to getting there, we spotted the same family group of Bigg’s Killer Whales that we saw south of San Juan Island earlier that morning. The T46B1’s were feeding right outside of Mosquito Pass and comprised of three individuals, including the...

Olivia | July 21st, 2019 | M/V kestrel | 11:00am

Every day is completely different and unique, especially with whales that can travel over 100 miles in a day. Today, however, they decided to make our job very easy! Just as we left Friday Harbor, and I mean barely out of the harbor, we came across the T46B’s of Bigg’s Killer Whales. They continued to hug the shoreline and travel north. Captain Gabe and I adore seeing this family because their young calf has Leucism, a condition where...

Olivia | July 8th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

 

Captain Pete and I started off the trip by heading north towards Boundary Pass where we caught word of some potential whale sightings. On our way there we decided to stop at White Rocks and catch a glimpse at some Harbor Seals. Did you know that anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks after they give birth to their pups, the males swoop in to breed all over again? Ouch. Am I right, moms? 

As we continued further up peeking into Boundary...

Captain Mike and I were up early today and excited to see what was out there! Southern resident orcas had been hanging around the islands for the past couple of days and we could not wait to get a better look at them! We, along with our 11 smiling guests, headed down San Juan Channel to go look for some orcas. We first took a good look at the South end of Lopez and saw some harbor seals hauled out along with 3 bald eagles perched up in the nearby trees and rocks. We then headed...

Sometimes we forget that when going on a whale watch we are observing wild animals, in their natural habitat, performing their natural behaviors. This is what makes whale watches so exciting and unique, but it is also an added challenge. Every day our trips are dictated by the movement and whereabouts of wild animals, and seeing how orcas can travel up to 100 miles a day, each morning we start out with a blank slate and a large sea of potential.

Today’s trip brought us as far north...

Some days you just get lucky. In April, the orcas are a little harder to predict. The Southern Resident Killer Whales who eat fish are always in and out traveling long distances to find the best fishing spots in the spring, whereas in the summer they usually follow a regular pattern of following the main Salmon schools up and down the west side of the islands towards Vancouver. The Transient Killer Whales are always hard to predict since they travel in smaller groups and zig-zag...

March on San Juan Island usually means lots of rain. This Saturday, though we had a small, sunny break in the rainy forecast which reminded us that summer is just around the corner. Coincidentally so are the killer whales. We turned south out of the harbor with myself, Naturalist Kev, and Captain Mike to head for some reports of Transient Killer Whales hunting in the area. Transient Killer Whales are a little different than our more famous Southern Residents.  They hunt in smaller...

After the amazing encounters that we had yesterday, I wasn't sure the trip today would be able to compare, but boy was I wrong! When we first headed out, we had an awesome surprise: a  juvenile humpback surface a couple hundred yards in the distance by Roche Harbor. It went about feeding and showing us lovely fluke patterns. The Humpback ended up circumnavigating San Juan Island. These whales can eat up to two ton of food a day! It didn't take us long before the M/V Kittiwake was...