Today was one of those amazing, beautiful, sunny, "warm" (ha, not really), incredible wildlife days.  There were seals, eagles, eaglets, steller's sea lions, and of course orcas.  We found whales right around false bay and they were milling, hunting, and doing other things that whales like to do.  It looked like K's and a few J's here and there.  Blackberry was making amorous advances toward one of the K ladies, who had a little one with her.  Salmon were jumping, whales were pec...

Today was one of those rare perfect days to be a wildlife watcher. The sun was shining and the water glassy as we made our way south from Friday Harbor. Our first stop was at whale rocks where there were the most wildlife species I’ve ever seen at one time. There were cormorants, gulls, harbor seals in and out of the water, and two animals we do not see often: a brown pelican and not one, but two giant Steller’s sea lions, one of which was in the water and came up right behind our...

Right out the gates, we headed south and just before Cattle Pass we encountered a harbor seal munching on a salmon it had just caught!  At first, two gulls were interested in the seal's catch but each time it surfaced, another gull and then another and then another came on until there were ten gulls fighting for a piece of the salmon prize.  Wait a minute, did the gulls even do any of the dirty work to catch that salmon?!  Oh, scavengers.

Around the west side of San Juan Island, we...

What can I say about today...?  The whales made us work for it.  We headed around the calm, serene north side of the island and turned the corner south down the west side.  We had heard that there were whales moving north in the vicinity of Lime Kiln but by the time we got there there was nothing.  We kept motoring south around the corner toward False Bay.  Still nothing.  The wind was blowing and the seas were getting rougher the farther along we went, but still we went.  Finally up...

Today we had a wonderful encounter with my old friend, the Minke whale.  We left the harbor and headed south.  Just before Cattle Point we noticed lots of splashing.  We moved toward the disturbance and saw two harbor seals acting very peculiarly.  One seal would lay, flat out, on the surface of the water.  The other seal would lunge at it, bite it, and then porpoise and slap its back flippers on the surface.  Over and over again we watched the same scene play out.  Perhaps a...

Today was awesome.  Call it luck, call it karma, call it retribution for the past few days of driving to Vancouver...whatever the case, I have never seen whales actually pull into the harbor.  When we found the group of J's they were just north of the harbor.  They were cruising slowly south. I was expecting total chaos. Because of the whales' proximity to town I figured everyone and their mother would be out watching.  The sheriff was out and about, which was great to see.  There...

We headed north out of Friday Harbor this afternoon in search of any and all wildlife that lives in or around the Salish Sea. Our first encounter came when we slowed and went across Spieden Island where there was wildlife from the shore line to the sky. First we noticed harbor seals that were hauled out on the narrow shoreline. Then looking up, we saw mouflon sheep and fallow and sitka deer along the grassy hill tops. Finally, in the sky was a lone bald eagle in all its glory; wings...

I just wanted to thank you again for the great time my buddies and I had on your tours a couple weeks back. Our tour guide was  from our home town (a suburb of Chicago) which made the experience that much more enjoyable. I knew I got some cool pictures from the adventure, but was even more excited when I blew it up and so how well they had turned out. Thanks again for everything, consider this my

Orca Whale by D. Litch July 2011

D. Litch

Every morning I come in to work, nervous about what the day may hold, but also excited about the prospect of seeing whales.  There is a lot of pressure on us as naturalists, captains, and crew to find the whales and keep the passengers happy, which is why we get so very excited when we hear two sweet words...South side!

Gotta love it when the whales are close and we get to spend time with multiple groups. I do love a good drive up north every now and then, but sometimes it is just...

Some days we just know we have to go the distance to find the wildlife.  But the general rule of thumb is: it's so worth it!

Today, we cruised out of sunny Friday Harbor with both boats--Sea Lion and Kittiwake--full of eager wildlife seekers.  As we pleasantly made our way north through many of the islands dotting the Salish Sea, we saw birds and boats and waves and trees and then: the channel marking the border to Canada.  Once we crossed that, the wildlife appeared in full force! ...