What a crazy end of season we have had! The wildlife lately has been amazing, everything from the migrating birds to the gorgeous cetaceans we have been seeing.

This weekend was humpback whale-filled. We had the distinct pleasure of spending time with three different humpback whales on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Humpback whales are well known for their fluke-up dives, raising their enormous tails out of the water. Each humpback has a unique black and white pattern on the underneath of their...

I feel like I end everyday on the water this season with, "Well, it couldn't get better than today." I am constantly proven wrong. Today was incredible, one of my top 5 lifetime trips, definitely in my top two trips spent with Transient killer whales.

Today was rainy, but beautiful! I love the way the mist hangs in the trees and blankets everything in wonderful gray. To answer the question on everyone's minds: yes, the whales still come out in the rain! I have had excellent days...

We have had an absolutely incredible season here in the San Juan Islands. Whenever naturalists or captains run into each other around town all we can do is laugh and shake our heads... the frequency of whale sightings has just been out of this world this season. October has been no different.

On Saturday we headed out of Friday Harbor with reports of Resident orcas spread out from the northern reaches of the San Juan Islands all the way to the southern end of Lopez Island. We ended...

There are stories surrounding orcas that say if we visit them in their natural realm, the sea, we'll see them as humans since they will be home and we will be the visitor. I don't know what that means the human will then look like, but I like to think of humans with permanently grinning orca faces.

Unless you don a drysuit and some air tanks there is no one to see if this little myth is true but I believe it's good to think of orcas in a more human way, to connect with them emotional...

As August winds down, our evening tours become more and more precious. The sun is setting earlier, which means better light for us throughout the duration of our tour. The M/V Sea Lion picked up our 26 guests, left the harbor, and headed south through San Juan channel. As we made our way through Cattle Pass, Haro Strait opened in front of us revealing almost glass-like water in the golden light. We made our way North along the West side of San Juan catching glimpses of some of the...

We spent a blissful day on the water with members of both J and K pods as they were traveling north past Stewart Island. We first arrived on scene greeted by some members of the J19 Matriline (J19 Shachi, J41 Eclipse, J51). J51 is the first calf of J41 Eclipse, and he is just as cute as a button! When orcas are born their white patches tend to look orangey because they do not have significant fat stores. As they grow and put on weight, the orange patches turn to their classic white...

Yesterday we headed up North towards a report of K pod in Canadian waters.  It was a beautiful sunny day and on our transit to the whale reports we saw many harbor seals and harbor porpoise.  We made it up to Point Roberts and met up with the K12's and the K13's.  The K13's consist of seven individual whales and the K12's consist of 5 whales, including a sprouter named Tika.  You can tell the sex of the whale based on the dorsal fin size but up until sexual maturity all of the whales...

Naturalist Rachel, Captain Pete and I were very excited for our day on the M/V Sea Lion. The sun was shining, our guests were chipper, and we had positive whale reports leaving the dock! A positive whale report leaving the dock does not necessarily guarantee whale sightings, but it always gives you that lucky feeling in the pit of your stomach. We cruised south this afternoon through San Juan Channel and around Cattle Point Lighthouse at the southern tip of San Juan Island. We were...

Today we left the dock with reports of resident orcas out on the West side of San Juan Island.  It was a beautiful sunny day here in Friday Harbor so our trip out to the whales was filled with sunshine.  We met up with the K14's on the South side of Stuart Island.  We first spotted K26 (Lobo), an adult male with a 6 foot dorsal fin, feeding in the area.  We also got a great look at K42 (Kelp), the youngest member of the K14's.  The whales then started moving towards the Cactus...

Today Captain Brian, Naturalist Rachel and I headed North towards Canadian waters, with reports of part of one of our Resident, salmon-eating pods, J Pod traveling along Saturna Island's shore. As we arrived on scene, Captain Brian did a wonderful job maneuvering so that we were not only saying the legal limit away from the whales (100 meters in Canadian waters), but also getting the best looks possible. We quickly realized that we were looking at one of the current famous families...