Today we headed to the south end of San Juan Island with some fabulous guests, many from foreign countries such as Japan, Germany, and even Australia! We were happy to see such diversity on board today. As we headed through the San Juan Channel, we were all excited to see our Dall's Porpoise having a grand old time ridding the waves off of our stern and bow! Both myself and Emily (the other naturalist on board) had never seen these small mammals and were equally excited to witness...

Captain Mike, Andrew and myself left our Friday Harbor location today and headed south through the San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass where we hoped to encounter some great whale activity. Along the way we stopped to say "hello" to my favorite small critters that are known to inhabit the Salish Sea: Harbor Seals. The harbor seals thrive on our large tidal difference here which create the upwellings they navigate through to hunt. Their whiskers on the front of their face are...

The same group of marine mammal-eating Transients (the T49Bs and T65As) that "wowed" us yesterday demonstrated their hunting prowess again today outside of Sidney, British Columbia. Just before coming upon the gang we witnessed several Harbor Porpoise in the area. The orcas began to breach and moved inshore where it appeared that they pinned their prey right up against the beach. Our hardy guests enjoyed the show despite the driving wind and rain and huddled back in our vessel's...

Today’s tour was a bit different than usual, yet so refreshing! With no whale reports since the night before, we took our tour to the inner islands.

Sure the San Juan Islands are home to one of the most charismatic animals in the world, the Killer Whale, but that is not the only thing that makes them beautiful. Often times the inner beauties of these islands are overlooked, but today we allowed our guests to discover these beauties. We toured along Flattop Island, the Cactus Islands...

We had reports of Transient Killer Whales near Victoria, B.C. today.  When the animals are reported this far away we do have to do a bit of traveling but fortunately the Killer Whales were traveling east and headed our direction. 

As we were motoring through the Strait of Juan de Fuca to reach the whales we saw 5 Dall’s Porpoise.  The Dall’s Porpoise were actively foraging in the highly productive region.  After a few minutes of viewing these animals we continued on our way...

Once again, it was beautiful day in the San Juan Islands with bluebird skies and flat calm waters.  And, the Salish Sea was teeming with wildlife and seabirds. 

In the San Juan Channel and Cattle Pass we saw Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoise, Steller Sea Lions, and a number of different seabird species.  Here the tide is funneled through Lopez Island and San Juan Island creating upwelling.  Eager for a meal, marine mammals and seabirds congregate in this area, taking full advantage...

Our day began with Harbor Seals!  As usual they were taking advantage of the beautiful weather and having a snooze while soaking up the sunshine. 

We then motored south through the San Juan Channel where we saw a number of marine mammal and seabird species including Harbor Porpoise, Steller Sea Lions, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, Cormorants, Harbor Seals, and a plethora of Gulls.  These animals were most likely foraging in this highly productive area. 

As we cruised south...

The weather was perfect: high around 70 degrees, clear blue sky, and very light breeze.  The only thing that could make it better would be a day with the Orcas.  Did you order up Orcas?

Yes, a large order, please!

Coming right up.

We ran north - through beautifully calm water, enjoying the spectacular scenery.  Mount Baker was a clear and crisp as I've ever seen it.  Along the way, we saw harbor porpoise, common murre, pigeon guillemot, and harbor seals swimming about.

As we...

Today we were watching a variety of wildlife on the south side of San Juan Island.  We observed between 10-15 members of L pod that were spread out south of False Bay and heading to the southeast (48°25.25N, 123°05.87W).  Five to six orcas were surfacing in a tight-knit group.  Three other individuals were at least 500 yards away to the south and east, but traveling in the same direction.  One orca breached twice; what an incredible splash!  We believe we spotted the L85 “Mystery” in...

The sun is out, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, with wildlife too! Dear readers, won't you come out and play?

Today couldn't have been more enjoyable! The sunshine, the summertime, *perfect temperatures, and water like glass! We saw tons of wildlife including at least 3 dozen Harbor Seals, 2 Great Blue Herons, a Bald Eagle, Harbor Porpoise, Cormorants, Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murres, and 15+ Steller Sea Lions. We also had a great round of wildlife bingo with each and every passenger competing...