We headed north to Canadian waters today; calm waters and warm sun made for a wonderful boat ride.  As we approached Saturna Island, we saw the spray…the spray of the humpback whale.  We observed this marine mammal feeding in Boundary Pass (48°43.982N, 123°08.698W), and had the opportunity to watch the fluke dip into the water.  As this type of whale has baleen plates, it was likely feeding on krill or a variety of small schooling fish.  Several rhinoceros auklets were around, hoping...

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...

We caught up with killer whales just as they were swimming across Turn Point, off Stuart Island, heading west. The whales were not just slowly traveling by; they were porpoising out of the water, moving fast! All together there were four of them. Two were right next to each other, their bodies flying out of the water in full synchronization.

Four more killer whales followed shortly after. There were two large males in this small group. We could see their massive dorsal fins at least...

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...

I experienced something new and beautiful today. We had a service at sea during the first part of a charter trip this morning. Not much to say except that we were honored to be a part of it. After which we headed north, first slowing by Spieden Island looking for muflon sheep and deer, but seeing a few harbor seals resting on the rocky shore and a group of harbor porpoises surfacing in front of our boat!

We then went around the top of San Juan Island and saw our first killer whale...

Upon departing Friday Harbor, our guests were eager to suit-up in the bright yellow rain slickers we provide onboard; a little rain was not going to stop this group from having a wonderful time.  So, with a pair of binoculars in hand, a sense of adventure in our hearts, and a boat full of positive attitudes, we were ready to see what the day would bring and boy, we were not disappointed!   

Having heard reports of whale activity, Captain Craig took us east through Upright Channel...

Rain could not keep us away from the whales today as we departed North out of Friday Harbor. It was a bit foggy as we left, but the further north we went, the clearer it became. Then, just south of Turn Point we spotted J-2 "Granny" swimming along Stuart Island by herself. We watched as the 101 year old killer whale surfaced and dived. The rest of J-pod wasn't far behind her including J-27 "Blackberry". After watching the whales go by for a while we started back towards San Juan...

What a day!  We didn’t have to travel far, getting to enjoy the company of many members of J-Pod, with the star being “Big” Mike, J-26.  We were on the northwest side of San Juan Island at 48° 36.9345 / 123° 11. 8222.  Shachi, J-19 was leading a group of other females north.  After nearly an hour with the active Orcas, we turned north for a tour along Spieden Island, with harbor seals, Mouflon sheep and sika deer galore!  We punctuated  the hurrahs on that stretch with 3 bald eagle...

It was another beautiful day on the water. The sun was out in full shine, the water pure glass. Out in Haro Strait at the very northeastern tip of D’Arcy Island we found two Transient Orcas (48°35.77N, 123°15.61W). We identified them as male T20 and female T21. Fortunately we were able to watch them hunt for a while.

We then continued our way around Mandarte Island, through the Cactus Islands, and back home. We saw all kinds of wildlife including Cormorants, gulls, Pigeon Guillemots...