Today we headed north on a wildlife adventure!  Incredible scenery through the northern San Juan Islands; we passed by Spieden Island first.  Adult male mouflon sheep were grazing near shore; their large and round horns are quite a sight.  Several females were also resting in the grass close by.  We also spotted a bald eagle at the top of a tree looking out for its next meal.  A harbor seal was resting with her pup on a mattress of rockweed, a type of seaweed, up against the...

Today we enjoyed the August sunshine on our trip to the south side of San Juan Island.  We encountered glassy and calm waters  coming through Cattle Pass, and a great view of the Olympic Mountains.  As we came upon Whale Rock, we observed several harbor seals and then ten LARGE Steller sea lions resting.  The sea lions were crowding each other for space and we heard a couple of them vocalizing and grunting!  Then we turned west into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and noticed several...

Minkes today!

Although our Southern Resident Killer Whales were nowhere to be found today, we did have luck finding Minke Whales. Not just one, but two (maybe even 3!) Minkes were in the Salmon Banks area, on the south side of San Juan Island (48°25.33’N, 122°59.94’W). Just rounding the corner out of Friday Harbor, a Bald Eagle majestically perched at the top of a fir on Turn Island. On the way out of San Juan Channel, eight Stellar Sea Lions sunned themselves on Whale Rocks, while...

Within minutes of leaving Friday Harbor, we found over 20 Harbor Seals, including several pups, resting on the shores of Turn Point.  We then saw 7 Steller Sea Lions sprawled out on Whale Rocks taking advantage of the beautiful weather and soaking up the sunshine.   These large, male Sea Lions were clearly enjoying their afternoon siestas.  Next Captain Jim spotted a Minke Whale near Salmon Bank at the southern end of San Juan Island (48°25.19N, 122°58.14W).  The whale...

Exciting day on the water! Leaving the harbor under rainy skies, we traveled north around San Juan Island. Happily, the skies dried and the sun soon came out just as we caught up with members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales in Haro Strait. Traveling along the west side of Stuart Island and milling in the Turn Point area (first sighted at 48°40.67N 123°14.92W) were: Onyx (L87), along with Slick (J-16) and her calf, Echo (J-42), Mike (J-26) and Alki (J-36). Our next sighting...

We headed north to Canadian waters today; calm waters and warm sun made for a wonderful boat ride.  As we approached Saturna Island, we saw the spray…the spray of the humpback whale.  We observed this marine mammal feeding in Boundary Pass (48°43.982N, 123°08.698W), and had the opportunity to watch the fluke dip into the water.  As this type of whale has baleen plates, it was likely feeding on krill or a variety of small schooling fish.  Several rhinoceros auklets were around, hoping...

Tons of whale action today; three Minke Whales and even a Humpback!!! (Salmon Bank, 48°25.01N 122°59.19W)

Humpbacks typically don’t come this far inland, to San Juan Island, so it was a great treat! These whales couldn’t be more graceful raising their fluke entirely out of the water and slowly diving down without a splash. They are THE true mermaids of the sea.

On our way in we saw tons of other wildlife including Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Steller Sea Lions, and Harbor Porpoise.

Wha...

The bright and glorious sun was out for our wildlife tour this afternoon.  In addition to the warm sunshine, we enjoyed sights of Mt. Baker, seen through clouds off in the distance, and calm waters.  Right away we spotted harbor seals and two bald eagles on the northeast side of San Juan Island.  As we approached Whale Rock, three Northern Sea Lions (also known as Stellar Sea Lions) were observed.  Two females were hauled out on the rock and another was swimming around the kelp bed. ...

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...

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...