[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 09/02/17, 1:30 pm Tour]
Island life is paradise - especially here in the San Juan Islands during a summer like this one. There have been some truly incredible transient killer whale sightings in the last few weeks, and every single day brings new surprises! Naturalist Rachel and I couldn't have been more excited to set out with Captain Mike and our guests and explore the Salish Sea today. Word on the water was that there were several different groups of orcas out and about, hunting, and traveling and cruising around the San Juans. Captain Mike decided to take us up north towards a group that was hanging around Spieden Island towards the northwest side of San Juan Island. And wow - there were some amazing whales out there!
We encountered a few different groups cruising up towards Stuart Island. Two different families were traveling together before separating and moving in different northerly directions. Captain Mike did an amazing job of getting us some amazing views of one of the families. After a nice long viewing period, we continued our tour up around Turn Point, the most northwestern point of the continental US, and through John's Pass - glorious! This is such a scenic route, and truly shows off the best of the islands. We saw harbor seals, porpoises, bald eagles, plenty of bull kelp - the best of the northwest.
But the trip was about to get even better - there was yet another family of transients hunting near Flattop Island! This is a wildlife refuge, so there's some really beautiful undeveloped shoreline to enjoy. Better yet, the family of transients was circling the island on their insatiable search for seals. Flattop is the perfect place for these whales to hunt, and it was like a big seal merry-go-round for them. It was a perfect day out there - amazing!
Thanks to those of you who came out on the tour today - it was the best of the best, and it was probably one of my top ten whale watches of the year. The activity and the variety was endless - thanks Captain Mike for showing us around! My favorite photos of the tour are below - enjoy!
Naturalist Lauren
San Juan Safaris
