There is more to life in the islands than orcas.  With every brochure and website showing photos of leaping black and white behemoths, it is easy to forget that there are other equally stunning species that live in this area.  It is also easy to overlook the basic beauty of the setting for fear that you might miss that one great shot of a killer whale.  For these reasons it is always rather nice that the season starts and ends so "slowly".  These days spent rocking in the cradle of...

Today was a day you could not beat here in the San Juan Islands.  The sky was clear, the weather warm (for the Pacific Northwest) and the water was calm.  No one could seem to find orcas (remember, the world's largest dolphin) or whales today, but we had a lovely cruise around the San Juan and the Canadian Gulf Islands.  There were harbor seals, Steller's sea lions and harbor porpoises stretched to the horizon.  At boiling reef, which was rather odoriferous today, there were dozens...

Well, we did not find orcas, but we did find plenty of other cool creatures.  On a boat built for 50, we had 7 people, so it was like having a private tour.  The guests and captains and I were relaxed and open to any new experiences that might come our way.

In that light we decided to head farther northwest than we usually do when going on a wildlife tour.  We traveled up President's Channel and around Patos Island, a state marine park.  I got to tell everyone about the historic...

It was inevitable, but sad all of the same. Tonight was our last evening trip. We did not waste it though and we had a lovely group of guests out with us on the M/V Sea Lion. Even though there were no resident orcas tonight we still saw all kinds of wonderful wildlife.

As Capt. Pete toured us through the islands, we stopped time and again for harbor seals hauled out on rocks. Of course, there is always a method to Capt. Pete's madness and he was stopping at all of the places...

While a heat wave roars through the Pacific Northwest, we here in Friday Harbor decided to cool our heals in the waters of Boundary Pass. The orcas had been north and east and everywhere according to the reports that we were getting, but we found them heading west towards Swanson Channel and the Pender islands. Supposedly, J1 "Ruffles" had been over near Lummi Island, but almost like clock-work he and his family showed up off of the starboard bow of our boat.

Capt. Craig always...

As the orcas sought food and adventure in the waters of the pacific, so we sought peace and relaxation amongst the islands. We were without whales today, but our guests did not suffer for it. Capt. Nancy took the MV Sea Lion, guest naturalist Russell and me on a beautiful wildlife cruise under warm sunny skies.

Harbor seals with pups were on every corner and I lost count of all of the bald eagles that we saw. Mouflon sheep, along with sika and fallow deer, were all out on Spieden...

Life is good as a naturalist these days. The Orcas are back in the islands and the summer is in full swing. With the 4th of July coming up, as well as Friday Harbor's centennial and the sesquicentennial of the Pig War there is no shortage of special events to fill those hours that can not be spent on the water. Luckily for our guests today, it was a day spent on the water and in the company of whales. And not just giant black and white dolphins, but real whales as well.

As we...

Wow! After three days off what a comeback. I showed up at the office this morning to news of Orcas in the area, but they were different from those that we had been seeing. The excitement was palpable as our group of 25 guests, along with Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I motored out into the great unknown. Would the whales stay in an area where we could see them, would there be as many as were reported, would Capt. Nancy remember Jeanette's name today? It was all a mystery and we...