|
|
Captains Log - September 2006
If you have been on one of our tours, we would love to hear from you. Please give: date, tour time, what you saw. If you have photos send them. They could be placed on this page and could win our Photo Contest. One winner for kayaking and one winner for whale watching by boat
September 30, 2006 Saturday
Becca the kayak guide had yet another day of watching whales from her kayak with guests. She was leading a 3-hour tour when she thought she saw dorsals a way off in Haro Strait. They were headed that was anyway, so they continued paddling on the north side of Henry Island until they were in Haro Strait. Sure enough there they came. It turned out to be a Super Pod. Tons of whales passed about 100 yard away from them.
September 28, 2006 Thursday
Kayak Guide Rebecca (Becca) tells me that today was something that had not taken place since 1983! She had a group out kayaking and while the were returning to Roche Harbor, between Henry Island and Pearl Island TRANSIENTS orcas (there were 3) had come north through Mosquito Pass! She was so surprised to see whales there. She and the guest paddled in amazement. There were a few whale watching vessels nearby too. Ours of course being one of them. What a day.
September 22, 2006 Friday
Naturalist Traci popped in and says they were with the orca whales off San Juan Island, south, near False Bay in the Straight (Haro). All 3 pods were present and quite spread out. They were not moving in any particular direction. Capt. Brian added that it looked like socializing today, not fishing, may even have been mating. At one point, an orca swam underneath the boat (which was sitting with it's engine off).
September 21, 2006 Thursday
Naturalist Traci Walter just came off the boat and says "Whales everywhere!" They were very spread out the whole west side of San Juan Island taking over Haro Strait. They were in small groups. We saw Mega (L41) from a distance, saw Seiku and the new baby calf with son Tika playing for about 1/2 an hour in the kelp. The baby had its tail draped with bull kelp. All 3 were playing with one another, the baby practicing spy hops, turning upside down, and was adorable. Stellar sea lions, big males on Whale Rocks.
September 19, 2006 Tuesday
Today Captain Brian Goodremont reports that he and guests are out with a super pod, all 3 orca whale pods/families, which went from False Bay to Battleship (near Roche Harbor). Amazing show.Lots of breaches. Had the hydrophone down and the orcas where very vocal today.
Guests saw Sea Lions off Cattle Pass (the southern tip of San Juan Island),and Harbor Porpoise in San Juan Channel, Bald Eagle on Turn Island. They saw the new calf in K pod today too! What a day. Mostly sunny with a few puffy clouds.
September 18, 2006 Monday
The afternoon whale watching/wildlife tour went all the way to Hein Bank near Victoria. They saw 3 transient orca whales. Capt. Goodremont says they had some excellent looks at all three whales. Guests report that the water was just like 'glass'.They also saw numerous sea birds and harbor seals.
September 16, 2006 Saturday
Yes, it has been 11 days since the RESIDENT orcas have been in the area. However . . . the TRANSIENT orcas have been around. Thursday our guests had a great viewing of them. The guests on the 1:00 tour even saw them eatting what was thought a seal (could have been a piece of porpoise). A baby transient orca whale was identified. A research team tagged it with a suction cup, but later that cup was found as it did not stick properly.
Weather: Despite predictions of rain, dark skies and even thunderstorms, the islands (as I predicted) did not see this weather pattern. We did have a bit of partly cloudy skies Wednesday and Thursday, but yesterday and today are absolutely gorgeous!. Come on up. You may know that we will be running tours in October on Saturdays and charters any time.
September 5, 2006 Tuesday
Naturalist Margo just told me that their 1:00 tour was up north by Saturna Island viewing J pod orcas. She said they were just traveling, not sleeping, no visible fishing, no cartwheels or abundant activity.
September 2, 2006 Saturday
Jaclyn just got off the boat and says "we had a fantastic trip, L-12's were spread out, off of Salmon Bank, great looks at Mega and then at the end, (oh and there was lots of fishing behavior), 3 came out of nowhere and surfaced on the side of the boat, swam the went under another boat and did the same thing. Both boats had the engine off".
PS - yesterday somewhere, we did not see it, but there was also a confirmed sighting of a fin whale.
|
Nicole Franks sent this in from her whale watching tour on September 26, 2006
Hi there!
I was on a whale watching tour a few weeks ago and I caught a couple shots that you might like. So here they are.
We had a great time!
Thanks for a great day!
Nicole
These are a couple of the 5 Brits from British Airlines who on a whim, with a 24 window, took the chance of flying up to San Juan Island 
Their wildest dreams came true Oct 3, 2006 when they saw all of J pod
And a few whales most likely from L pod too. Look at the water &weather: beautiful!
|
