Our guests braved high seas today as we crossed the exposed Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in search of the not-so-elusive killer whale. Lately the endangered southern resident population of killer whales have been following their relatively predictable summer activity of salmon fishing on the west side of the San Juan Islands.

We first encountered these whales south of Victoria. Despite the high wind and confused sea state, J and L pod were grouped tightly and displaying resting...

The day started off great! As we headed out into the San Juan Channel, Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin and myself along with our eager guest came across our local Harbor Seals feeding in the amazing tidal rips that develop in the Cattle Pass area. We saw close to a hundred Harbor Seals!

From there, we heading out through Cattle Pass were we encountered at least a half dozen Minke whales. Minke whales are approximately 25-30 feet long and feed in the shallower waters off the south end...

Heading out of Friday Harbor, we zipped out towards Salmon Bank, where reports of J Pod and a few L's were hanging out. Captain Jim and myself were able to make great time out to the whales since we were riding out in style in the Kittiwake, our original San Juan Safaris boat! Kittiwake is a great boat to get a very personalized and scenic view of the whales. This trip only emphasized that point. Our guests, along with the crew, were extremely surprised when Blackberry, J-27, and a...

We left our Friday Harbor location today, hoping for a great day with the whales in the Salish Sea. We headed south towards Cattle Pass where we saw dozens of harbor seals having a great time foraging. From there, we headed into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Haro Strait off the south end of San Juan Island where we encountered the L-12's, a smaller sub-group of the larger L-Pod (our resident killer whales). It didn't take long before we recognized L-41 otherwise known as Mega who...

Another wonderful day on the water! Sun was out and it was HOT. Captain Mike, Naturalist Emily, and myself went south out of Friday Harbor and then steadily made our way north along the west side of San Juan Island. While meandering along the west side, we first encountered a large group of bobbing seals in the water. After sitting in silence for a bit we realized our boat was surrounded by harbor seals! It was great to see them enjoying the crisp 46 degree waters.
After saying...

Leaving Friday Harbor we headed towards the west side of San Juan Island where, Captain Mike and myself, met up with a few members of L Pod. We were able to cruise up the west side of the island and get great looks at some of the mature males of L Pod such as Mega, Solstice, Mystery, Skana, and Spirit! The west side is an excellent region to spot Orcas because of the high density of salmon coming through that area.
On our way back towards Friday Harbor we took a small detour over...

Another beautiful day on the water. Leaving Friday Harbor Captain Mike, myself and our guests, once again traveled north along San Juan Island before reaching the west side of Henry Island where we met up with northbound traveling J pod as well as the small group from L pod, the L12s. Right away we saw one of my favorite group of whales from J pod, the "Cookie Clan" consisting of J22 (Oreo), J34 (Doublestuff), and J38 (cookie).
As the whales traveled right next to Henry island we...

Mega has a large nick on the back edge of his dorsal fin and small nick farther down which makes him easy to identify.

We left our Friday Harbor location and eventually arrived on the north end of San Juan Island to find not only our resident J-pod but also a small group of L-pod known as the L-12s. This is the first time this season we've seen residents other than J-pod. The L-12s include the oldest male in the Southern Community, big L41, otherwise known as Mega.
After watching...

Couldn't have asked for a better day on the water. Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin, and myself were lucky enough to take out a great wedding party. The rainy skies cleared away for a beautiful sunny day and we only had to turn the corner out of Roche Harbor to spot J Pod. Couldn't get any easier! While watching off of Henry Island, J Pod seemed to be moving quickly along the coastline. We got to witness lots of porpoising and the occasional breaching. It was great to see these whales...

With our noon departure today Captain Mike and Naturalists Aimee and Kevin headed south with their guests. While heading south guests spotted a Sea Lion surfacing in the water. After getting a few good looks, Kevin and Aimee determined they were looking at a California Sea Lion. California Sea Lions are smaller than the Stellar Sea Lions however full grown males can get up to eight feet long. Moving along, a bald eagle was spotted on Whale Rocks and we decided to stop and get a...