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...

We were greeted with beautiful weather out on the water today: seas like glass, sunny, and clear. Perfect for spotting minke whales, and that’s just what we were looking for. Off the south end of San Juan Island, around Salmon Bank (48º24.977’N 122º 57.291’ W), we came across at least three or four minke whales. Two of which were traveling right next to each other! Baleen whales typically travel individually in feeding grounds, so seeing two, twenty-five foot whales surface one after...

Another Minke Whale southeast of Lopez Island, a couple miles offshore, Rosario Strait (48°21.55’N 122°48.78’W).

Captain Mike, also known as "Minke Mike", was the first to spot him and soon after, the fleet moved in. This whale seemed a bit distant at first, luring us into the strait, but eventually turned around and gave us some play, coming up between boats and surfacing multiple times. Patience is key :)

On our way back, we took a nice scenic cruise around the southern tip of...

Just south of Salmon Bank, about 2-3 miles offshore of San Juan Island, we came across a Minke on a mission (48°22.9’ N, 122°55.9’W). This Minke was on the hunt, moving from bait ball to bait ball, no fish left behind. After only a few minutes of watching him, it became almost predictable as to where he would pop up next; just look for the birds man!! Between dining episodes, the whale would immediately pick up its’ pace surfacing multiple times toward the next meal in...

What a glorious day; the sun was shining, the seas were calm, and the wildlife was plentiful. 

Our tour began with a stop at Turn Point where a number of harbor seals were hauled out.  It is pupping season and several pups were observed basking in the sunshine next to their mothers or swimming alongside them in the brisk, 49°F water.  At Whale Rocks we found two male Steller Sea lions swimming between kelp patches.  The Sea lions would surface and take a look at us before diving...

Today we got to experience something a little different, but fun! It appeared as though the Southern Resident Killer Whales had left the Salish Sea for the day, so we went out looking for our other year-round residents, the Minke Whales. We headed south of Salmon Bank, eyeing each bait ball we passed, looking for that mysteriously small dorsal, yet long, almost ancient-looking body. We saw our first one a couple miles offshore (48.24.14N 122.57.78W) and within minutes saw another...

A little "liquid sunshine" (what the locals call drizzle) did not keep us from a great wildlife tour today!  First stop was a collection of harbor seals lounging in that liquid sunshine on a rock outcrop near Griffin Bay.  We were on the lookout for some new pups, recently born, as this is pupping season!  As we headed south out of Cattle Pass, we saw a large collection of birds including rhinoceros auklets and Heermann’s gulls feeding at the surface of the water.  Then we saw the...

So many opportunities to observe the diverse wildlife of the San Juan Islands today!  From Friday Harbor we traveled east, and then cut between San Juan Island and Lopez Island.  Several harbor seals were hauled out on rocks, swimming, and foraging for fish!  Gulls swooped in and rhinoceros auklets popped up in the feeding frenzy.  As we travelled through Cattle Pass, we encountered a surprising visitor.  A stellar sea lion was hauled out on Whale Rock!  Typically, stellar sea lions...

Today was another great day amongst our Southern Residents! We found members of J and K pods spread out in the strait, in groups of 3 or less, between Salmon Bank and False Bay (Haro Strait 48°27.07N, 123°04.02W). Some were foraging, some were resting, while others just appeared to be milling around in the calm seas.

After riding alongside one group, we would switch off to another, paying each small group a visit. We even saw a few adult breaches, which ironically occurred just...

Today we visited some of the bad boys/bad girls of the sea, the Transient Orcas. Now don’t get me wrong, they aren’t misbehaved, they just prefer some of the larger meat items on the menu. 

The first one we spotted was a male headed north in the San Juan Channel just offshore of San Juan Island. Transients are fairly individualistic so it was not a surprise to see him alone. It was a surprise however to some Harbor Porpoise just off our stern headed in the same direction. If...