Even though May is here in full force and it has felt like summer the past few weeks, it definitely isn’t summer yet. The salmon still haven’t starting running full force through the Salish Sea so it is still unusual to spot the Southern Resident Killer Whale pods. The J-16s have been seen from time to time with other members of J pod, but we believe that this is so they can keep their young calves safe in the more protected waters here. So in this time of the year we usually see...

It’s still our shoulder season here in the San Juan Islands. That just means a few things. First: there’s a higher chance of rain, but not to worry this past El Niño event with other meteorological factors has seemed to brought summer early to the islands with sunny, warm days, and second: the consortium of wildlife that we are apt to see is a little bit different… sometimes.

            Normally this time of year the Southern Resident Orcas are still out to sea, hunting salmon and...

Yesterday was another gorgeous spring day here in the San Juan Islands full of lots and lots of wildlife. This time of year we have been heading north out of the harbor for the most part as there tends to be much to look at in and amongst the smaller northern islands. Heading south, just means cruising some open water!

As we made our way south we were treated to sweeping views of all four of the main San Juan Islands. Here we only have four islands that are serviced by the Washington...

It was another hot one here in the San Juan Islands on Monday, especially for May, but that means were get a little bit more sun and after a long, grey winter that is okay sometimes. Captain Mike and I set out with high hopes and headed north with a wonderful group of folks. We headed so far north that we eventually made it into Canada, and soon there they were. You could see the blows first and then large, dark, shark-like fins slicing through the water as this family of Transient...

What do you think about when you think about sound? Maybe you think about music, or birds, or waves crashing, but I bet you think about all of those sounds going into your ears right? We hear sounds all the time, even when we’re sleeping, but imagine a world that you experience almost everything through sound. This the world of dolphins, and especially the largest species of dolphin, the orca. Orcas echolocate. This is how they mainly interact with their watery world and it kind of...

Did you know that orcas live all over the world? They’re a cosmopolitan species just like us, the humans! There are ten distinct ecotypes worldwide that look similar but differ, in their behavior and their feeding habits. Here in the beautiful Salish Sea around the San Juan Islands there are two ecotypes that commonly pass through our waters! In the summer the famous Southern Residents swim through the islands in search of Chinook Salmon, but year round there is another ecotype that...

This Friday, we got a very welcome break from the heat wave that hit us earlier this week. Capt. Pete and I headed out to a cool, calm afternoon. We’re currently in the shoulder season where anything can happen. This area is most famous for seeing the Southern Resident Killer Whales, but they make up only a small portion of the cetaceans and marine mammals that call this place home. They are also not even the only type of Killer Whale that inhabits this area! There is another ecotype...

Yesterday we had a rollercoaster of a trip: there were ups, there were downs, and sometimes it even felt like we were flip turned upside down. Let me elaborate…

We left Friday harbor with killer whales reported everywhere around us, we had a few groups of killer whales reported to the south moving away from Friday Harbor, some whales out West by Victoria heading west, and we had a group of whales who reportedly were moving towards us up North near Prevost Island in the Canadian Gulf...

Orcas, Killer Whales, Blackfish, Sea Pandas – the species scientifically labeled Orcinus orca is known by many names, and they are probably one of the most distinctive looking mammals in the sea. Although these large, intelligent, black and white dolphins look a lot different than you or me, you’d be surprised how similar we and they are… but first let’s talk about an awesome day.

            It was one of the sunniest and clearest days that I’ve seen this spring as we left...

Some days you just get lucky. In April, the orcas are a little harder to predict. The Southern Resident Killer Whales who eat fish are always in and out traveling long distances to find the best fishing spots in the spring, whereas in the summer they usually follow a regular pattern of following the main Salmon schools up and down the west side of the islands towards Vancouver. The Transient Killer Whales are always hard to predict since they travel in smaller groups and zig-zag...