We had a fabulous trip to the south side of San Juan Island today.  Sunny skies and calm waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca made for incredible whale watching!  After seeing several harbor seals cruising through Cattle Pass, we encountered the Steller sea lions on Whale Rocks.  At least ten were lounging in the sun.  As we headed into the strait, we saw several members of the resident L-pod actively feeding offshore of South Beach (48°26N, 123°00W).  First we saw members of the L12...

Today we enjoyed the August sunshine on our trip to the south side of San Juan Island.  We encountered glassy and calm waters  coming through Cattle Pass, and a great view of the Olympic Mountains.  As we came upon Whale Rock, we observed several harbor seals and then ten LARGE Steller sea lions resting.  The sea lions were crowding each other for space and we heard a couple of them vocalizing and grunting!  Then we turned west into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and noticed several...

Minkes today!

Although our Southern Resident Killer Whales were nowhere to be found today, we did have luck finding Minke Whales. Not just one, but two (maybe even 3!) Minkes were in the Salmon Banks area, on the south side of San Juan Island (48°25.33’N, 122°59.94’W). Just rounding the corner out of Friday Harbor, a Bald Eagle majestically perched at the top of a fir on Turn Island. On the way out of San Juan Channel, eight Stellar Sea Lions sunned themselves on Whale Rocks, while...

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...

Southern Resident Killer Whales today!

Caught up with about 7 slowly foraging members of J-Pod, including Granny (J-2), Blackberry (J-27) along with Onyx (L-87) on the west side of San Juan Island at 48.27.388N 123.03.597W. We stayed with them until peeling away at the light house at Lime Kiln to complete a circumnavigation of San Juan Island.  Caught a quick sighting of 2 Dall’s Porpoises close to Kelp Reef too.

On the way out, San Juan Channel was busy with Harbor Porpoises (at...

It was a calm and foggy day out on the water.  The majestic M/V Sea Lion cruised out of the mist on an exploration for whales!  We headed south through Cattle Pass towards Admiralty Inlet, and just beyond Smith Island (48°20’N, 122°58’W), we found two groups of transient orcas.  We estimated about 10 orcas altogether.  We were on a zig-zag pattern and it was though they were swimming on all sides towards the southwest.  Two breached and put on a show!  We also had a visit by a Minke...

Leaving Friday Harbor under solid grey skies, a damp drizzle, no wind, very calm seas, and a last minute report that Transient Orcas were on the west side of San Juan Island, we headed north and quickly made our way to the west side via Spieden Channel  in anticipation of running into the northern-bound whales.

It wasn’t until Pile Point though, before we caught up with 3 of the T-100’s, including T101 and T102 (48°28’N, 123°05’W), traveling south from Pile Point off the west side of...

Whale Watching Report for Monday, April 23, 2012

We pulled out of Friday Harbor under bright skies. There was a whale report of animals near Anacortes headed south. So we headed south down the east side of San Juan Island. We made a stop near the south end of San Juan Island to view about 14 big, fat Stellar Sea Lions. Most were hauled out. The few near water’s edge seemed to be having a vocal and physical ‘tiff’.

I’ll spare you the ½ hour that we and several other boats...