Meaning that it was calm and relaxed and just a chill day on the water.  L pod is known for being a little more relaxed in their activities and that energy carries over to the whole trip.  A calf did treat us to a goodbye breach though.  Our cruise started out with some excitement when a bald eagle flew over the M/V Sea Lion just after we pulled out of our slip.  Despite the sea gulls that were trying to chase it away the eagle dropped down to the water, talons extended, and pulled...

What a beautiful day it was out today! Lately the Orcas have been cruising the west side of San Juan Island so when the reports came in today of whales over by Lummi island I was really excited. Whales and somewhere new to see! Lummi Island is located just off of Bellingham. We barely made it out of Friday Harbor before we encounter Dall's porpoise frolicking in the wake of boats passing by. The adorable black and white porpoise are often found riding the bow of boats. After a few...

Ok, not really, but wouldn't that be cool.  We did spend time with the orcas though and had a lovely afternoon on the west side of San Juan Island.  There was Ruffles, our big old male, some of his other J pod mates and lots of swimming going on.  Not every encounter with the orcas is a circus of breaches and spyhops, but any day that we spend with them is a good one and good days is what we are all about.

Even days without orcas are good days, because there is always something...

All of Dawn's photos from the Whale Watching & Wildlife Tour June 10, 2010 have been entered into our photo contest.

What better way to end a busy day shopping in Friday Harbor than on the calm waters of the Salish Sea?  Surrounded by marine wildlife in every direction, this evening's sunset tour was quiet the safari!  The adventure started with the misty blows of orca whales off Spieden Island.  As we approached them we were able to identify a few members of Jpod, including the impressive adult male "Ruffles", 100-year old "Granny", and "Blackberry".  They traveled in a large closely knit pod...

What a pleasant surprise the gorgeous weather was today.  The sun was shining, it was warm and there were whales! What more could one really ask for? Except for the whales to be headed right in our direction,  and as it turned out they were!!   The plan was to head straight for the whales which were reported to be near Saturna Island just at the border between the United States and  Canada. Captain Craig informed us that we would not be making any stops so that we could make it to...

Reports were in early of the southern resident J pod sightings around Active pass. While this is good news it can also mean that the whales may be just out of our reach should they continue north.  Active pass is in Canada so this meant we were in for a long haul. Luckily Captain Craig put the pedal to the metal and we made it out to see J pod! Although they were spread out we did get some close looks at an adult male and two sets of female calf pairs. The dorsal fin of an adult male...

Okay, well it was actually all of us on the M/V Sea Lion that were doing the rocking and rolling, but I am sure that the orcas were having some fun too.  Especially if all of the breaches by the calf were any indication of their state of mind.  The waters were rough, (unusual for the San Juan Islands), but our guests were tougher and we prevailed in the end.  The orcas were spread all along the south end of San Juan Island in little clusters that were hard to find until we stumbled...

It was a bit of a rocky day out there with 2 foot swells, but it was still a great day!  The Southern Resident L- pod was first spotted off False Bay on the southwest side of the island. The pod was spread out into several smaller groups.  We chose to take a look at a smaller group that seemed to be frolicking in the waves. They picked up speed to porpoise over them. Eventually they moved offshore to slightly calmer waters and milled about.  We continued along the west side of the...

Working as a Naturalist, I have become accustomed to going with the flow (pardon the nautical idiom.) This is often an acquired skill for people, as wildlife has a way of constantly thwarting our wishes to watch them in their natural setting. With a world now filled with zoos, aquariums, and Sea Worlds expectations are often high to have wildlife cooperate with our desires, even ones outside these man-made settings. The orcas have started coming back into this area very frequently -...