Whale Watching Naturalist Celebrates Birthday Whale Watching

Few people actually witness such an event, but Friday the 13th appeared to be a lucky day for the sunset tour.

A greeting ceremony is performed when different pods of the southern residents come together and reunite with one another, welcoming each other home after a long period of time spent apart.

The ceremony was initiated by an adult male who pulled his entire body out of the water, breaching twice in a row. We slowly approached the area of the breach and began to see multiple...

We circumnavigated San Juan Island today, seeing wild life all the way around. We left Friday Harbor heading south and ran into a group of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. Shortly after, around Goose Island, there was another large group of seals foraging in the water!

Continuing around to the west side, we ran into some fog and slowed. We could make out some boats, so we stopped and started to look for whales. Through the fog we heard the distinctive “powoof” of a killer whale...

We caught up with killer whales just as they were swimming across Turn Point, off Stuart Island, heading west. The whales were not just slowly traveling by; they were porpoising out of the water, moving fast! All together there were four of them. Two were right next to each other, their bodies flying out of the water in full synchronization.

Four more killer whales followed shortly after. There were two large males in this small group. We could see their massive dorsal fins at least...

Yup, just WOW. 

Today was one of those “monumental” kind of days. Both boats, the Sea Lion and the Kittiwake, got THE MOST amazing views of our Southern Resident Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island between Lime Kiln and Hannah Heights (48°28.36N, 123°05.02W).

The first whale we spotted was Blackberry (J27). He was initially foraging, but after a few moments he grew extremely friendly and curious of the Kittiwake. He swam parallel to the boat stunning our guests with...

Great whale watching out in Haro Strait today! Whales were spread out between Stewart Island and Lime Kiln State Park. We caught up with our first pair, mama and calf, just off Henry Island, near Kellet Bluff (48°34.60N, 123°12.03W). They were moving extremely fast, almost to be confused with porpoise, looking as if they were trying to catch up with the rest of the pack on the western side of San Juan.

After traveling with them for a bit, another female appeared out of nowhere...

We saw at least 5 members of J and L Pod along the southern end of San Juan Island offshore of False Bay (48°27.7265N, 123°05.3859W).  J26 “Mike” was frolicking with whales from L pod including L72 “Racer” a 26 year old female.  L72 was also traveling with her son L105 “Fluke” who was born in 2004. 

The whales were initially traveling in close proximity with each other before they began surfacing quickly and changing direction, usually a behavior associated with...

AND SO ARE THE WHALES!

The salmon must be satisfying, because we have been seeing our Southern Residents for weeks now, on both trips! Today around 3:00 PM we met up with at least 10 members of J and L pod just south of Mosquito Pass, traveling north in Haro Strait (48°35.66N, 123°12.61). They too, seemed to be enjoying the sun, surfacing multiple times and playing around in the water. They were definitely not shy, and we were able to identify, in plain sight, Spieden (J8), Slick...

It’s been a while since the last time we had to travel far north out of Friday Harbor, but this afternoon that’s just what we did to spot some killer whales. The ride up was beautiful! The water was like glass, the sun was shining, and the breeze was warmer than it has been all season. Plus, harbor porpoise were in no shortage as the surfaced in every direction from our boat as we motored north of East Point.

We saw our first, large Orca dorsal fin slice through the water at 48º52.88...

Prize: $38 plush 3 foot long Orca Whale