It was another hot one today! Beautiful for seeing all kinds of wildlife. South of San Juan Island was our destination as we left Friday Harbor. Just outside, we stopped to view some harbor seals and pups hauled out on the rocky reef and a bald eagle in the tree tops. Further south, on whale rocks, there was a massive Steller sea lion sitting up, then five or six others swimming amongst the bull kelp.

Then, at salmon bank we spotted not only some harbor porpoise, but the slender...

We held off long enough, but it seems like summer finally made it's way to the San Juan Islands! Absolutely beautiful afternoon, super clear skies and super flat seas. We left Friday Harbor heading north with word of a humpback whale in the area. We spotted the distinct, 10 foot plus blow of a large humpback whale just off the west end of Stuart Island. It was traveling north east around Turn Point before making a b-line across the US boarder into Canadian waters. It surfaced two...

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...

The bright and glorious sun was out for our wildlife tour this afternoon.  In addition to the warm sunshine, we enjoyed sights of Mt. Baker, seen through clouds off in the distance, and calm waters.  Right away we spotted harbor seals and two bald eagles on the northeast side of San Juan Island.  As we approached Whale Rock, three Northern Sea Lions (also known as Stellar Sea Lions) were observed.  Two females were hauled out on the rock and another was swimming around the kelp bed. ...

Lots of wildlife today! First we saw about a dozen harbor seals just south of Friday Harbor, hauled up on the rocks. Then, at whale rocks we came across some pelagic cormorants, more harbor seals, plus a huge male stellar sea lion, a very rare sight for this time of year!

Continuing around towards the west side of San Juan Island, we came across at least seven killer whales. Both members of J and L pod were around. We identified L-86 “Onyx,” J-16 “Slick,” and L-92 “Crewser...

In my post yesterday, I mentioned how I could not find words to describe how amazing our Orca encounter was. Well, surprisingly everything that I said yesterday can be applied to our afternoon trip today! There was another super pod of killer whales, but we didn’t realize this right away.

We departed Friday Harbor heading north, and did not have to travel far. We caught up with three killer whales just on the north side of Henry Island (48°36.720’N 123° 12.300’W). We watched...

We had a very exciting and full-of-wildlife day! We departed Friday Harbor heading north into Canadian waters. Before seeing the main event (killer whales) we spotted about five or six harbor porpoise just north of San Juan Channel. Not long after we saw one dorsal fin, then another, then three more! There were about eight to ten southern resident killer whales, traveling close to each other. They were moving north along Pender Island (48º 36.54’N 123º 04.94’W). We watched as...