Southward from sunny Friday Harbor quickly led us to dense fog with visibility at maybe 100 yards (maybe) just before Cattle Pass.  Armed with radar, the captain navigated us through the pass and over to Whale Rocks where we found seven large stellar sea lions and numerous harbor seals hauled out, warming up and napping.  Even in fog, the air was warmer than the 50 degree waters around the San Juan Islands!

Battling our way through more fog, with other boats appearing and...

Very unusual sighting today…a humpback! It was right on the west side of San Juan Island. We motored around cattle point and saw a bunch of boats in one area. Everyone eagerly searched for what could possibly be nearby. Then we saw the spout followed by its large back. We watched for a while and were able to see it go down for two deeper dives, arching its back and exposing its fluke. Plus, when it exhaled, it sounded like it was wheezing because it made a high pitched, scratchy...

Today was definitely one of the top five whale encounters I’ve had since I started at San Juan Safaris! We left Friday Harbor heading south with reports that there were whales on the west side. On the way we first stopped to view a large group of harbor seals that were hauled out on a rocky island. Then, as we traveled a little further south, a thick layer of fog descended. It created an eerie ambiance as it encompassed our boat. This however did not prevent us for encountering more...

The killer whales were close today so we had plenty of observation time and were able to see a smorgasbord of species.  We first encountered L pod and successfully identify the 34-year-old male Mega (L-41) who was traveling alongside the 22-year-old male Gaia (L-78).  What was really exciting was the amount of calves that were traveling and playing together.  There were at least three youngsters who were taking turns lob tailing, propoising, spy hopping and breaching next to each...

It was an absolutely gorgeous warm, sunny day; perfect for wildlife viewing. With the weather on our side, we headed north into Canadian waters to find the killer whales. As we saw the first dorsal fin slice out of the water, two harbor seals came up right next to our boat, followed by a couple harbor porpoises. Distracted, we lost sight of the orca until three of them came up on us, about one hundred yards away! It was K pod; we were able to identify Cappuccino.

We watched them...

Today, even the Kittiwake had an adventure!  We traveled over to Orcas Island to pick up a family of ten for a private charter and from there on, we were surrounded by a continuous showing by Pacific Northwest wildlife!

First, it was a little harbor seal between Lopez and Shaw Islands.  Next, it was one then two stellar sea lions (BIG ones too--they can weigh up to 2,200 pounds and be ten feet long!) swimming in the currents between Lopez and San Juan Islands.  Further into the...

I was a little worried waking up this morning to overcast skies, but just before leaving on today’s adventure the clouds started to part and the sun shined through. Our luck continued as we circumnavigated San Juan Island. There were tons of harbor seals with little pups in the water and hauled out on rocks. As we went around Cattle Point a bald eagle flew over our boat, giving us one of the best views I’ve seen of one. Just further ahead, we spotted our first killer whale. Then, a...

The black dorsals of J and K pod broke the chop of Haro Straight as we made our way towards Victoria. We then allowed the strong current that had worked against us to now be in our favor as it pushed us towards the west coast of San Juan Island, drifting beside the orcas. We saw Deadhead (K-27), who was named after the singer of the Grateful Dead who passed the year of her birth, and her three-week-old son. The passengers (and the naturalists) gasped as she unexpectedly spyhopped to...

Today was one of those rare perfect days to be a wildlife watcher. The sun was shining and the water glassy as we made our way south from Friday Harbor. Our first stop was at whale rocks where there were the most wildlife species I’ve ever seen at one time. There were cormorants, gulls, harbor seals in and out of the water, and two animals we do not see often: a brown pelican and not one, but two giant Steller’s sea lions, one of which was in the water and came up right behind our...

Right out the gates, we headed south and just before Cattle Pass we encountered a harbor seal munching on a salmon it had just caught!  At first, two gulls were interested in the seal's catch but each time it surfaced, another gull and then another and then another came on until there were ten gulls fighting for a piece of the salmon prize.  Wait a minute, did the gulls even do any of the dirty work to catch that salmon?!  Oh, scavengers.

Around the west side of San Juan Island, we...