Last evening I got out from behind the computer and went out on the whale watching tour that departs at 5:30.

We went out of Friday Harbor, then south down the east side of San Juan Island.

About 1 mile off the south west side of San Juan Island  there were many, MANY whales.

It was an exceptionally active bunch of whales that we viewed for about 40 minutes. The energy! Breach after breach. Slap after slap. Even the youngsters were getting into the act.

I have a new camera. A...

Southbound from Friday Harbor, we went in search of Pacific northwest wildlife. Along the way, we saw harbor porpoises just in the San Juan Channel north of the harbor.  A few harbor seals were spotted frolicking in the waves, perhaps foraging or playing.  As we rounded Henry Island along the northern end of San Juan Island, we headed south along the Haro Strait and began to see boats in the distance spread out over several miles.  Upon closer viewing, those boats happened to have...

There's a theory among whale watch captains that whales breach more when the waves are choppier.  Last night's trip was definite proof for that theory!

We left the harbor southbound, searching for our earlier super pod.  As we peeked out of the safety of the islands at Cattle Pass, the wind was blowing down from the Olympic Mountains, creating a fierce chop in the water.  As we traveled northwest, sea spray was blowing over the bow and the port side of the boat; everyone took shelter...

Our adventures today started off a little cool, cloudy and choppy as we traveled south towards Cattle Pass.  Along the way, we stopped for some harbor seals hauled out attempting to bask but then found others at the Pass being more efficient with their time (there was no sun for basking) hunting for food.

Around the bend, headed northwest into the Haro Straight, we began seeing intermittent identifiable black dorsal fins: looks like J-pod was in the neighborhood.  The pod was spread...

Any time you're thinking about getting on a boat, check the sky and then cross your fingers.  Today we had intermittent sunshine over Friday Harbor and dark gray low-hanging clouds to the south.  And to the south we went... with fingers crossed that the clouds would continue out to sea and away from our projected travels.

Just before leaving the protection of the islands, we saw a handful of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks exchanging 48 degree Celsius water for slightly warmer...

We narrowly escaped the rain today; luckily, by trip departure time it was done raining in the San Juan Islands.  Overcast weather and threats of rain don't keep the whales away though and as we rounded Cattle Point and came up along the west side in some choppy waves, we were rewarded for our perseverance: J-pod was back from their few-day stint at sea.

Spread out in a long line along the west coast, we watched the orcas travel in their smaller groups past Lime Kiln State Park.  One...

With storm clouds and rain to the north, we started heading south towards Cattle Pass.  Word on the quiet ocean: Minke whales were in the neighborhood.

Passing several plump harbor seals hauled out off Cattle Point, we motored out to Salmon Bank and then Hein Bank, areas known for schools of herring and, subsequently, birds and marine mammals feeding on the abundant food source.  A female and calf Minke whale were seen by other vessels in the area.  At Hein Bank, we spotted several...

The sun was shining as we left the harbor and headed south toward Cattle Pass.  A few of the seals hauled out on the rocks lazily lifted their heads to give us a quick glance before returning to their afternoon nap.  A river otter scampered down the shoreline and slid into the water, quickly disappearing below the glassy surface.  A hand full of Steller Sea Lions were rolling around in the pass, floating and lifting their flippers into the air.  They too seemed to be enjoying the...

Wednesday arrived with sunny skies and the warmest temperatures of the season.  We departed a little early for our trip due to word of whales in the area.  We headed through Cattle Pass with the tide flooding against us.  As we cleared the pass and entered Haro straight Captain Craig pointed our bow south towards Partridge Bank.  But half way there we took a sharp right and headed up the straight as we spotted some Orca closer to our position.

We came on scene with just a couple...

Another beautiful day.  That makes wo in a row!

It was calm enough to head south through Cattle Pass and do an entire circumnavigation of San Juan Island.  Whale rocks was packed with Steller Seal Lions,  Harbor Seals, and Cormorants and as we headed out toward the straight, with the wind at our backs, we decided it would be the perfect day to just keep on going.  We made it all the way around to Henry Island and turned out toward Speiden to try to sneak a peek at some land mammals. ...