We had an amazing day in the San Juan Islands. The rain held off, the seas were calm, and we saw Killer Whales! Upon leaving Friday Harbor we motored south along the east side of San Juan Island and made our first stop at Tern Island to view Harbor Seals hauled-out on the rocks. We continued south and stopped at Goose Island to see a number of bird species. We then traveled around to the south end of the San Juan Island and found the Resident Killer Whales about 2 miles southwest of Hein Bank (48°22.25N, 123°06.56W).
Everyone was mesmerized by at least five members of J-pod. The whales were initially very surface active: spy-hopping, breaching, tail slapping, and cartwheeling. They had short dive times and changed direction frequently. We took this opportunity to lower the hydrophone and listen to the whale vocalizations. AMAZING! The whales then appeared to enter a resting phase, as they lined up in a row and traveled slowly together. When it was time to leave the whales had increased their dive times and appeared to be traveling to the southwest.
On our way back north we visited Whale Rocks where a large, male Steller Sea Lion was swimming along the coast. He then climbed up out of the water to provide us with a few poses before leaping back into the water. We then saw three mature Bald Eagles. One eagle was perched on the rocks of Long Island while two others were seen on Deadmanâs Rock.
Amy, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris Whale Watching and Wildlife Tours