Well, the residents graced us with their presence today after a brief hiatus. However, so did the fog. Although Captain Craig isn't crazy about the fog (which I guess makes sense seeing he's in charge of our lives and safety and such), I love it. We drove through Cattle Pass on the way to reach the Southern Resident orcas and were hit with a wall of fog. Taking advantage of the luxuries of modern technology, Capt. Craig skillfully maneuvered the M.V. Sea Lion to the scene of the...

Each day we leave the harbor with hopes of seeing the amazing black and white creatures we call orcas. Of course, ideally we also want harbor seals, sea lions, eagles, porpoises, and other whales sprinkled in the mix. But alas, wildlife is wild. Hopes and wishes aside, the wildlife of the San Juans will do what it pleases, which is one of the reasons we love to experience it in this setting. Now ... based on this introduction, you probably are guessing we didn't see orcas today...

Minke Whale By Erinn Taucher People For Puget Sound

Sea Birds and A Catamaran By Erinn Taucher People For Puget Sound

Stellar Sea Lion by Erinn Taucher, People For Puget Sound PugetSound.Org

Stellar Sea Lion Dive by Erinn Taucher, People For Puget Sound PugetSound.Org

Minke Whale by Erinn Taucher People For Puget Sound PugetSound.org

Minke Whale by Erinn Taucher People For Puget Sound PugetSound.org

Minke Whale by Erinn Taucher People For Puget Sound PugetSound.org

Pe...

The orcas and humpbacks were conspiring against us today. They were all 20 miles or more from Friday Harbor and were heading further west. Not a good combination for a successful whale watching tour. Luckily for us the minke whale were cooperating, so we went and spent time with them. Afterward we had a lovely cruise around Lopez Island, where we visited quiet coves and glassy waterways all chock-a-block full of seabirds. All of this was just what the cruise director ordered since People for...

At this point, our avid readers know that orcas are the world's largest dolphins, despite the fact that their common name is Killer Whale.  Because the name Killer Whale is such a misnomer we almost exclusively use their scientific title of orca.  Up until this week they were also the only dolphins that we see in the Salish Sea.  There have always been vague reports about Pacific White-sided Dolphins being spotted in these waters, but the reliability of those reports always...

I know I have said this a million times, but it was a whale of a day! First, we saw members of the J pod on the south end of San Juan near Salmon Bank.  Once again we identified J26 "Mike".  Then, we saw more whales, possibly members of the L pod, along the west side of San Juan around Eagle Point.  The whales were widely spread out in all directions, traveling in groups of about 5-10.  Every day is different and today we got a little taste of everything.  We saw spyhopping...

It was a really lovely day out on the water.  The sun came out, misty whiffs of clouds hovered above the islands, and the orcas were everywhere.  We circumnavigated San Juan Island, first heading south and then north up the west side.  San Juan Island is the second largest, 55 square miles, of the county.  Our first orca sighting was about 2 miles offshore from False Bay.  Two large males surfaced for air, making a surprisingly loud "whuff" was they exhaled.  We continued north to...

San Juan Safaris

I did the 'Whale Plane' from Lake Union Seattle. Forty five minutes on a fantastic small sea plane, with wonderful views. Went on smaller boat from San Juan safaris with only 12 on board. We left early as we were all on board to give us the best chance of seeing the orcas.We roared off very fast, which was very exciting. The naturalist aboard was very friendly and...

Our summer is coming to a close and with it comes a little bit more rain. We have our occasional rainy day now where as mid summer we went a full 38 days with no rain. Today was one of those days but the whales definitely don't care. Reports of J pod were coming from the west side of san juan. We had some adventurous passengers with us today who also didn't mind the rain and some even braved the rain on the bow of the boat. Before making it to the whales we stopped to observe a...

Another great day with the J-pod!  The whales were spread out along the south end of  Saturna Island.  We identified J1, J2, and J26.  Captain Mike turned off the boat and we peacefully swayed in the slow rolling waves of this protected inland sea.  Three whales were displaying foraging behavior as they quickly changed direction in a small circle.  As if that wasn't entertaining enough, the whales started breaching!  We saw one whale breach at least 5 times in a row! As always...