After a night of rain, I woke up this morning to still more rain, as it sometimes goes here in Washington.  But as the day progressed, the weather got better and better.  By the time our departure time rolled around, it was looking pretty good and sunny out here in the San Juan Islands.  From Friday Harbor, we headed north with word and hope of possible whales up in Canada by Active Pass.

After an hour of searching and a pass by a few Stellar sea lions, we started to see vessels off...

We headed north with reports of Orca up near Pender Island.  By the time we were on the water about 30 minutes the next report came in that the whales were moving steadily north towards active pass.  We were committed to finding Orca for our passengers so we continued on.  As we reached active pass we slowed and tucked on the side as the big BC ferry came through.  While we waited for it to pass we were able to spot an eagle perched at the top of the highest tree.

We came around the...

Tuesday brought sunny skies and calm water.  We headed north from Friday Harbor with reports of whales in active pass as well as faint vocalizations around Lime Kiln.  We were trying to decide which way to start our search when we heard confirmed reports of J-Pod off Moresby Island.  As we slowly approached the area the whales came in to view.  The passengers on board were ecstatic!  The pod was spread out into smaller groups.  Some were in way close to shore, while another group of...

Map: Active Pass, Canada

Today we ventured to Active Pass in Canada to admire those beautiful black and white creatures known as Orcas.
It is not very often we have to travel this far to see them. Thanks to the gorgeous weather, our guests definitely did not mind the boat ride. The longer boat rides are often very nice because we get the opportunity to know the guests on board a little better and delve into deeper subjects relating to the Orca population. Also we get to see many of...

Reports were in early of the southern resident J pod sightings around Active pass. While this is good news it can also mean that the whales may be just out of our reach should they continue north.  Active pass is in Canada so this meant we were in for a long haul. Luckily Captain Craig put the pedal to the metal and we made it out to see J pod! Although they were spread out we did get some close looks at an adult male and two sets of female calf pairs. The dorsal fin of an adult male...

Well, I can't tell you what a treat it is to be headed off on a wildlife trip with no hope of seeing orcas and then you get "The Call". For the past two days we have motored up San Juan Channel, swung north around Flattop Island and then been alerted of another boat finding orcas. Yesterday it was transients in Canada, today it was residents at the south end of the island. Both days, we had already informed our guests of the bad news of no orcas, but of our intention to visit the...

In these vast, life rich inland waters you just never know what you are going to happen upon. Even when it is an orca. One of our fellow whale watch companies was off looking for minke whales when, lo and behold, there were orcas around. The first reports were of transient orcas. These mammal eating orcas look just like our fish eating residents, with just a few small morphological differences and a vastly different diet.

Capt. Nancy gave the guests on the MV Sea Lion the run-down as...

It may not sound glamorous, but the day we had today on the MV Sea Lion definitely was. Capt. Craig got us out the door in a hurry since the orcas were all the way up in Active Pass between Galiano and Mayne Islands. It was petal-to-the-metal the whole way and in two hours we were northeast of the pass, out in the Strait of Georgia and I could see splashing on the horizon. It was still several minutes before we got there, but the dorsal fins and breaches were obvious well before...

It was a beautiful evening and Capt. Craig, the guests and I rushed right out to be a part of it. Actually, we were rushing because there were reports of Orcas in the vicinity and they were moving away from us. We quick got the group on board and the MV Sea Lion under way and motored out of the harbor.

A small charter boat had followed two transient Orcas up the coast of Vancouver Island to Active Pass between Galiano and Mayne Islands, B.C. We caught up with them on the east side of...