(April 27, 2017) Our guests today were treated to an encounter with “Big Mama,” a school bus-sized member of the baleen whale family.  Just a few decades ago, humpback whales such as Big Mama were on track to becoming locally extinct in the northeast Pacific.  After a moratorium was placed on commercial whaling, several whale species began to recover their populations.  Today there are estimated to be about 20,000 humpbacks in this part of the world.

In some parts of the world...

We left Friday Harbor with reports of transient orcas headed to the South side of San Juan Island.  On our way to the area where the killer whales were seen we saw a variety of wildlife that resides here in the Salish Sea.  We saw quite a few bald eagles both perched and in flight.  We also saw a pod of harbor porpoise swimming in the area as well.  Harbor porpoise are one of the smallest cetaceans and they also tend to be shy around boats.  A surprise sighting during our venture was...

Captain Mike seemed antsy to board our guests and depart on the day’s safari.  The skies were dark and brooding, but there wasn’t a puff of wind and the channel outside of Friday Harbor was calm.  By the time we left the dock, the wind had cranked up and white caps busted against the bow, blurring the line between sea and surface as sheets of salt spray soaked the aft deck. 

Fortunately another captain in the whale watching fleet had sighted killer whales near Lopez Island and we...

That’s just how the cookie crumbles.  When my granny bequeathed to me this idiom, I understood that sometimes you’re unlucky, and sometimes you win big.  Whereas yesterday’s guests rode wild seas and saw zero whales, today’s guests experienced placid waters and a once-in-a-lifetime whale sighting. 

East of Orcas Island, the M/V Sea Lion glided beside a group of approximately eight transient killer whales.  The light was ideal for photography as Captain Mike set us up to enjoy the sun...

Today on M/V Sea lion we left the dock with no whale reports and rain in the forecast.  This is not an uncommon start for our pre-season tours; however, today our expectations were exceeded as the day continued.  We left Friday Harbor with plans to go to the Canadian Gulf Islands in hopes of finding some transient orcas.   We quickly got reports of transient orcas near Matia Island, on the North side of Orcas Island.  We headed towards the area and saw a large pod of harbor porpoises...

We could not have asked for a better spring weather out on the M/V Sea lion today.  We started our day with reports of whales on the North side of Orcas Island.  On our way up to the area we spotted some harbor seals swimming in the water and some bald eagles flying up ahead. 

We arrived on scene to a pod of transient orcas formally known as the T49A’s.  This pod is made up of 4 individuals including the 31 year old matriarch and her three offspring; a 14 year old adult male, a 5...

Today the M/V Sea Lion continued its whale-viewing streak into April with two species of cetaceans! April has been good to us in terms of weather and wildlife. We left the dock under sunny skies and with great expectations!

Captain Mike, Naturalist Rachel and I left Friday Harbor and almost immediately we were lucky enough to encounter a gray whale! Gray whales are unusual visitors for us here in the San Juan Islands. This was actually only the third or fourth gray whale I have seen...

(April 16, 2017)  Today Captain Mike piloted our international crew out to the expansive waters southeast of San Juan Island where the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro and Rosario Straits, and the Puget Sound converge.  Often the area is characterized by violent seas and stiff wind, but today the waters were placid with barely a breath of wind.  The snow-capped Olympic Mountains towered above us; Mt. Baker and the twin sisters loomed large to the northeast, and the unreasonable mass of...

(April 15, 2017)  Blue sky, warm sun, steep green slopes, electric blue water, and black and white whales.  That was the scene beheld by our guests today aboard the M/V Sea Lion.  Against the backdrop of Lummi and Sinclair Islands, transient orcas made steady headway up Rosario Strait.  Whale watching captains who had arrived before us observed seal munching and excited vocalizations, but by the time we glided in, the animals were back on the hunt.  We paralleled the impressive...

Approximately fifteen killer whales stunned spectators when the animals scoffed at the directional predictions of the crew and instead burst to the surface just behind the M/V Sea Lion.  After regaining our breath, we paralleled the tightly-packed posse as they transited south along the westside of Saturna Island, British Columbia.  The light was perfect and afforded many a classic photo of orcas surfacing in series, puffing salt spray into the air.  Rarely do we see such a well...