We had calm seas and a bright sunny day, perfect for wildlife watching! We departed Friday Harbor heading south, stopping to view harbor seals in the water and hauled out, as well as a bald eagle perched high in the tree tops. There were more seals around Goose Island, plus cormorants, gulls, and a large stellar sea lion playing in the bull kelp. Then, around whale rocks we saw three massive male steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks. One even started growling! It was awesome to...

What a glorious day; the sun was shining, the seas were calm, and the wildlife was plentiful. 

Our tour began with a stop at Turn Point where a number of harbor seals were hauled out.  It is pupping season and several pups were observed basking in the sunshine next to their mothers or swimming alongside them in the brisk, 49°F water.  At Whale Rocks we found two male Steller Sea lions swimming between kelp patches.  The Sea lions would surface and take a look at us before diving...

A little "liquid sunshine" (what the locals call drizzle) did not keep us from a great wildlife tour today!  First stop was a collection of harbor seals lounging in that liquid sunshine on a rock outcrop near Griffin Bay.  We were on the lookout for some new pups, recently born, as this is pupping season!  As we headed south out of Cattle Pass, we saw a large collection of birds including rhinoceros auklets and Heermann’s gulls feeding at the surface of the water.  Then we saw the...

I cannot even put into words how amazing, awesome, exhilarating, and fun this afternoon’s trip was. Seriously, words cannot describe the whales, but I’ll do my best share this experience. We left Friday Harbor heading east with reports of whales in Rosario Strait. This is the first thing that made today special; typically we travel north or south of San Juan Island, not east between the islands which is absolutely beautiful on a clear, sunny day like today.

We reached the whales...

So many opportunities to observe the diverse wildlife of the San Juan Islands today!  From Friday Harbor we traveled east, and then cut between San Juan Island and Lopez Island.  Several harbor seals were hauled out on rocks, swimming, and foraging for fish!  Gulls swooped in and rhinoceros auklets popped up in the feeding frenzy.  As we travelled through Cattle Pass, we encountered a surprising visitor.  A stellar sea lion was hauled out on Whale Rock!  Typically, stellar sea lions...

What a difference a day makes; we had blue skies and the glorious warm sun to greet us as we cruised out of Friday Harbor.  First wildlife sighting was just north of Griffin Bay with several harbor seals getting a suntan.  Next we viewed a bald eagle’s nest and admired the massive construction.  It is incredible to think that they can be six feet in diameter.  As we rounded Cattle Point, we were on the lookout for orcas!  Sure enough we saw L87 “Onyx” foraging outside of False Bay...

Many thanks to Mark for sending in these

absolutely wonderful Orca Whale and Bald Eagle photos.

Southern Resident Killer Whales today!

Caught up with about 7 slowly foraging members of J-Pod, including Granny (J-2), Blackberry (J-27) along with Onyx (L-87) on the west side of San Juan Island at 48.27.388N 123.03.597W. We stayed with them until peeling away at the light house at Lime Kiln to complete a circumnavigation of San Juan Island.  Caught a quick sighting of 2 Dall’s Porpoises close to Kelp Reef too.

On the way out, San Juan Channel was busy with Harbor Porpoises (at...

A great day to be on the water; we had blue skies, wispy white clouds, and plenty of wildlife to observe.  First we headed out to Spieden Channel and came upon a group of harbor seals hauled-out on an exposed rock.  They were snoozing and enjoying the sunshine.  We continued northwest towards Stuart Island and encountered “Onyx”, L-87, slowly traveling the same direction, just south of Turn Point (48°39.931N, 123°14.114W).  As we continued into Boundary Pass, we encountered members...

With reports of Resident Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island and Transient Orcas north of Stuart Island, it was a tough call on which direction to take. Fortunately, heading north to search for Transients turned out to be a great choice! At Blundand Island (Gulf Islands, BC) we caught up to about 8 or more tightly grouped whales (48°43’86N 123°10’9W), including T102, that seemed to be slowly moving along the island until something kicked a pair into action and they repeatedly...