Another beautiful summer day here in the San Juan Islands, not a cloud in the sky and we able to spy some amazing views of Mount Baker as well. Our 1:30pm departure left with reports of whales up north, traveling north, and we caught up to the group in Boundary Pass pretty much on the border of US and Canada. There was a large group of K pod traveling close together and some members of Jpod inshore foraging. We were able to get some great looks at the  J14s Slick, Mike, Alki, and...

After the amazing encounters that we had yesterday, I wasn't sure the trip today would be able to compare, but boy was I wrong! When we first headed out, we had an awesome surprise: a  juvenile humpback surface a couple hundred yards in the distance by Roche Harbor. It went about feeding and showing us lovely fluke patterns. The Humpback ended up circumnavigating San Juan Island. These whales can eat up to two ton of food a day! It didn't take us long before the M/V Kittiwake was...

Today was a beautiful day all around with sunny sky's, nice people, L-Pod, and lot's of wildlife! The M/V Sea Lion headed North today towards Turn Point (the most Northwestern part of the continental U.S.) where we had reports of some Southern Resident Orcas. I couldn't contain my delight when I told guests we had reports of these Orcas especially since it is rather late in September and they are still around!

On our way out we say some steller sea lions surfaced right in front of...

M/V Kittiwake departed with positive reports of Resident Orcas! Our 13 guests and myself were very excited due to the fact they have been gone for a few days. Captain Mike headed straight to the Orcas that were heading north in Boundary Pass. Once we got on scene we could see all the blows and lots of splashing, right away I knew we had a playful group. We were right in the middle of Boundary Pass when the Orcas decided to split. At that moment we had a large adult male surface near...

When I heard the vocalizations of orcas at the Lime Kiln hydrophone this morning, I knew it would be an entertaining day. The whale chatter seemed excited and endless!

Several hours later when we were viewing the same animals from the M/V Sea Lion, they were still partying hard. We watched a large group of Southern Resident Killer Whales begin to disperse as they entered Boundary Pass from Turn Point, heading toward the Pender Island bluffs. Soon small socializing groups of...

With plenty of sun shining, M/V Kittiwake departed Friday Harbor with a family, Captain Jim, and myself. There was one little boy who really wanted to see whales and we were able to head north to see a Minke whale. We spotted the Minke in Boundary Pass just west of Waldron Island. This Minke was very friendly and everyone was very excited it. M/V Kittiwake was very fortunate to have some great viewings of lunge feeding occurring. I was lucky enough to show the little boy the...

Southern Resident Killer Whales were spread out over 2 miles and traveling south through Boundary Pass today. 

In total we spent time viewing 15 Killer Whales, but many other individuals were observed surfacing in the distance.  It didn’t matter in which direction you looked there were Orcas!  It was absolutely fan-tastic!

In the first group, there were 8 individuals including a mature male and also a young calf.  Initially these whales were traveling in two smaller groups, one...

Today we headed north on a wildlife adventure!  Incredible scenery through the northern San Juan Islands; we passed by Spieden Island first.  Adult male mouflon sheep were grazing near shore; their large and round horns are quite a sight.  Several females were also resting in the grass close by.  We also spotted a bald eagle at the top of a tree looking out for its next meal.  A harbor seal was resting with her pup on a mattress of rockweed, a type of seaweed, up against the...

5 Transient Orcas came into the Salish Sea today, made a kill, and quickly headed back for open water. We found them at approximately 2:30PM right off Java Islets in Boundary pass circling their kill like a pack of wolves. It was the T18’s and T’19s including Mr. Floppy Fin (T19B). Within minutes of their kill they had cleaned up the remains and headed north for the Strait of Georgia. We left them rounding East Point, traveling fast, gaining speed to 10 knots.

Rumor has it...some...

By the time we reached the whales today, near Saturna Island (Canada), people had lined up along the shoreline waiting for their chance to see the Southern Residents. It was six members of Jpod slowly moving north in Boundary Pass headed for the Strait of Georgia (48°45.88N 123°04.69W). In the mix we found Hy’Shqa (J37) and her newborn J49, along with Grandma Samish (J14) and the 20 year-old orphan from Lpod, Onyx (L87).

The group appeared to be resting, staying fairly close to...