orca whale watching by seattle

It was a perfect day to spot and see marine mammals: no wind, calm seas, and overcast skies, so there was little glare on the water. We left Friday Harbor with a report of Minke Whales to the south at Hein Bank. Hein Bank is a place where it gets shallow due to an underwater sea mount or bank.....Read more

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...Read more

The Puget Sound is a very biologically diverse inland sea. We have many species of marine mammals, birds, invertebrates, algae and more . The most popular marine mammal is the orca , which is actually the largest member of the dolphin family. Today's safari included lots of bald eagles, porpoises,...Read more

As spring advances towards summer here and the days become longer in the San Juan Islands, we at San Juan Safaris shift into our evening sunset tours along with the lengthening sunlight. This particular Saturday marked our first late tour of the season and it was a glorious one. The sun shone...Read more

WOW!!! We saw so many bald eagles today... We even got a glimpse of about five in one tree. It is so wonderful that the bald eagle populations have made such a comeback. Bald eagles were greatly affected by DDT, a pesticide, due to bio magnification. DDT was causing thinning of egg shells. Bald...Read more

This is a week of firsts, I am telling you. Today we were treated to another rare sighting and that was a Humpback Whale. Even the captain said she has not seen one of these in the waters directly around San Juan Island in two years. The whale did not seem to realize the frenzy that it was causing...Read more

Wow! After three days off what a comeback. I showed up at the office this morning to news of Orcas in the area, but they were different from those that we had been seeing. The excitement was palpable as our group of 25 guests, along with Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I motored out into the great...Read more

Southern Resident Killer Whales on the west side of San Juan Island. We identified members of L-pod, one of the three pods of the southern resident killer whales. We first saw some members of L-pod just south of Lime Kiln State Park heading North. Just as we decided to make a trip around San Juan...Read more