Today we left the harbor and went up over Lopez and out into Rosario Straight.  We were nearly to Anacortes, just outside of Burrows Bay, when we saw a massive dorsal fin slice through the water.  There were a couple of smaller fins in the vicinity and as we drew closer there was a huge explosion of water as an orca breached clear and landed on its side.  Another breach followed shortly after and we noticed that there were whales very close to the rock.  They were moving fast...

Our adventures today started off a little cool, cloudy and choppy as we traveled south towards Cattle Pass.  Along the way, we stopped for some harbor seals hauled out attempting to bask but then found others at the Pass being more efficient with their time (there was no sun for basking) hunting for food.

Around the bend, headed northwest into the Haro Straight, we began seeing intermittent identifiable black dorsal fins: looks like J-pod was in the neighborhood.  The pod was spread...

The gigantic dorsal fins of Blackberry (J-27) and Double Stuf (J-34) sliced through the flat water as we rounded Mouat Point of North Pender Island. The two males appeared to be feeding when they would pause from their northward travel pattern to circle one another as they powerfully taillob the surface. Double Stuf, in his early stages of maturity at the age of 13, still bears a curved and skinner dorsal from youth. A group of four orcas, which consisted of a very small individual...

Today was a day of border crossing, and re-crossing, and crossing again.  In search of orcas rumored to be nearly out of reach, we headed north out of the harbor, eventually crossing the border into Canada at Boundary Pass.  Up around Saturna Island, we went into the Strait of Georgia where we finally found whales.  We spent much of our time going back and forth across the border as we observed J-pod and L87, a large male named "Onyx" with a solid white saddle patch on his right side...

The sun was shining and the waters were calm as we headed north in search of wildlife. Just as we left Friday Harbor, we spotted a harbor seal poking his head out of the water and slowed down to get a better look. We continued our journey enjoying the beautiful day and the sites of the surrounding islands. As we reached the west side of San Juan Island north of Lime Kiln, we saw what we were looking for, killer whales! Lots of them! The pod was spread out so we didn’t know which...

We were excited to depart Friday Harbor with sun, glass waters and a boat full of passengers who’ve never seen whales in the wild before. We headed north into Canadian waters where the orcas were last sited. After viewing harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, we continued into the Strait of Georgia. It took us over an hour to get there, but at last, killer whales!

There were many orcas, perhaps two pods, spread out over a large distance. We stayed to the outside of the group and...

It started raining at exactly 1:00.  We slogged out of the harbor under a giant black cloud that seemed to cover only San Juan Island.  The farther away we got, the more sun we saw.  Finally, headed southeast over the top of Lopez Island and down the east side, we moved out from under the cloud and into the sunshine.  Guess who was waiting for us in the sunshine?  Orcas.  Resident orcas.  Lots of them.  We found them in Rosario Straight.  They were spread from the near side of the...

On this beautiful, sunny Thursday afternoon we headed south out of Friday Harbor with news that the killers were hanging around the west side of San Juan Island. The passengers spirits were high as we headed out with the prospect of seeing all sorts of wildlife. As we made our journey west we stopped to watch some harbor seals hauled out on rocky areas soaking up some sun. Just before we reached Lime Kiln we saw what we were looking for, the killer whales were up ahead. It was J pod...

Woooeeee, the whales made us work for it today!  Resident killer whales were reported at nearly the farthest point we can travel on our trips and they weren't coming our way south either.  We loaded up both boats and headed north right out of Friday Harbor with not a moment to spare to stop and gaze at other islands as we went.  We crossed the border into Canada at the Haro Straight, went into Plumper Sound and  between Mayne and Saturna Islands to pop out on the other side in the...

Heading south out of Friday Harbor we encountered a picture perfect afternoon today! The sun was out and the sky was clear enough to see Mt. Rainier over 120 miles away! As we headed further south towards Smith Island we encountered a pod of fast traveling orcas. This pod of killer whales (believed to be a mix of J and K pod) had everyone's attention as they displayed an array of exciting behaviors! A rambunctious younger member of the group was the first to breach! As the pod spread...