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...

I experienced something new and beautiful today. We had a service at sea during the first part of a charter trip this morning. Not much to say except that we were honored to be a part of it. After which we headed north, first slowing by Spieden Island looking for muflon sheep and deer, but seeing a few harbor seals resting on the rocky shore and a group of harbor porpoises surfacing in front of our boat!

We then went around the top of San Juan Island and saw our first killer whale...

It was all about the killer whales today as we left Friday Harbor heading south, but we did see a large group of harbor seals hauled out on a rocky island on the way. After rounding Cattle Point heading around the west side of the island, we spotted two members of J-pod just outside False Bay. It was an adult female and a smaller whale that looked like a calf.

The whales were traveling south but stopped moving and started to dive and surface in one spot. We turned off the boat to...

Absolutely beautiful today in both weather and wildlife. It was bright, sunny and warm; probably the hottest day we've had all season. We left Friday Harbor heading north, and had to make a long trip to get to see some killer whales. But, even though we didn't have time to meander around the islands looking for other wildlife, we saw harbor seals and a large group of harbor porpoises on either side of our boat along the way.

It wasn't too much longer until we saw dorsal fins in the...

North was the direction we headed out of Friday Harbor and it didn't take long to spot wildlife; a bald eagle was perched high in the tree tops just outside the harbor. Along Spieden Island is where we encountered more wildlife. Harbor seals were hauled out on a rocky island just off the island, and as we motored ahead a bald eagle flew along the island traveling the same pace as our boat! J-pod, the second largest pod in the Southern Killer Whale community, was also around the San...

Word was that killer whales were north and headed north today, so we wasted no time departing from Friday Harbor. Along the way we spotted a few curious harbor seals and some harbor porpoise. Then we weaved in between the beautiful Canadian islands of Saturna and South Pender before heading through Active Pass. Just north of Active Pass we spotted a killer whale breach in the distance! (48° 53.267 N 123° 17.661 W). It was J-Pod. The whales were spread out, traveling in small groups...

It was another beautiful day on the water. The sun was out in full shine, the water pure glass. Out in Haro Strait at the very northeastern tip of D’Arcy Island we found two Transient Orcas (48°35.77N, 123°15.61W). We identified them as male T20 and female T21. Fortunately we were able to watch them hunt for a while.

We then continued our way around Mandarte Island, through the Cactus Islands, and back home. We saw all kinds of wildlife including Cormorants, gulls, Pigeon Guillemots...

It was a terrific day around the San Juan Islands in terms of weather and wildlife. As we left Friday Harbor heading south, the sun was shining and the water flat. Perfect for spotting the many harbor seals hauled out, covering every small rocky island exposed during high tide. We also passed Goose Island where cormorants were taking advantage of the sun as well, drying off their feathers.

Then we rounded cattle point and saw our first dorsal fin break the water just south of False...

Today we shuffled around Spieden, Stewart and some of the inner islands. As we boarded the boat we prepared for a wet day, but it actually turned out to be very nice. On the south side of Spieden we saw at least 30 or so Mouflon Sheep and got to see the very first Mink of the season, scurrying along the shoreline. We then made our way around Stewart, through John’s Pass, and through the Cactus Islands seeing numerous Harbors Seals hauled out on small rocky islets and a lone Bald...

Salmon Bank was the place to be today. We headed south out of Friday Harbor, prepared for rain but pleasantly surprised that it stopped just as we left our boat slip. Along our way we stopped to view a large group of harbor seals hauled out. A few gave us a demonstration of how phocids, true seals, move around on land without being able to rotate their hind flippers under their body by scooting off the rocks into the water. Continuing south, we slowed by Goose Island to watch and...