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[7/18/17 1:30 SL]
Finally! After weeks of radio silence from our well-known resident orcas, L Pod has finally made a much-anticipated appearance. Historically found in the Salish Sea for the entirety of the summer, resident killer whales are now becoming a rarity in this area. Seeing them around San Juan Island during today's trip was such a treat, and...
Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 7/18/17, 6:00 pm Tour
Today's sunset trip was a real treat for those of us on M/V Sea Lion. As we pulled away from the dock in Friday Harbor, we were excited to venture out and meet up with some of our Southern Resident Killer Whales that had been sighted earlier near the southwestern side of San Juan Island. These whales were members of L-pod, one of the three Southern Resident Killer Whale pods that we see out here in the Salish Sea. J-pod and K-pod were...
[7/17/17- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30 PM]
Another day out on the water here in the beautiful Salish Sea! We left our dock in Friday Harbor and headed to the North West side of Orcas Island. Once we got to that area we found a couple different families of transient killer whales, but we focused our attention on the T77’s.
The T77’s have five individuals in their family, T77, who is the 36-year-old matriarch of the group, and all of her offspring. Her youngest kiddo, T77E, is about a year...
(7/15/17- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30 PM and 5:30 PM)
Another day on the water with whale calves! We saw the same two families of whales on both our afternoon and sunset trip departing from Friday Harbor, the T34’s and part of the T37’s.
These individual whales have been hanging out in near the San Juan Islands for the past few weeks, but today they were North of San Juan Island in Canadian waters. On our first trip we watched the whales in the lower portion of the Strait of Georgia. By...
[Sarah M. – 07/16/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 01:30pm]
The M/V Sea Lion set out on another magical day in the Salish Sea. We had calm waters, blue skies, and whale reports! As has became the norm this year, we had orcas reported in an unusual location and we ended up weaving through the inner islands towards Rosario Strait and the Pea Pod Islands.
We were lucky enough to encounter the T037Bs and T034s traveling with T037. We had a lovely time watching the whales as they hunted in...
Lauren Fritz, M/V Kestrel, 7/17/17, 2:00 pm Tour
M/V Kestrel had a smooth, eventful tour today. The weather was perfect, light breeze, glassy seas. We were in high spirits as we pulled off the dock in Friday Harbor, ready to search for whatever wildlife nature wanted to show us. In such a biodiverse area as the Salish Sea, almost anything is possible. We had barely picked up speed before we spotted our first bald eagle! I took it as a good sign for the rest of our trip - and wow, we were not...
Lauren Fritz, 07/16/17, M/V Sea Lion, 5:30 pm Tour
What an incredible evening trip! Sunset is one of the most scenic times to be out on the water - and today, the water was pure glass. The San Juan Islands have this magic about them that createst the most beautiful pastel colors at sunset and dusk, and watching orcas swim through these periwinkle waters is a memory our guests on board will most likely never forget!
This evening, we encountered a few different orca pods. The T46's were one of the...
[7/14/17- M/V Kestrel- 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM]
M/V Kestrel had two trips today leave from Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. On our 10 AM and 2 PM departure we saw the same group of transients, a combination on a few families of transients, totaling in 12 whales!
It is always great to see this large amount of transients hanging out together. Generally, when we see the mammal-eating orcas we only see one family at a time, averaging at about 4-5 individuals. Today we saw three...
Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 07/13/2017, 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm Tour
Today was an incredible day on the water. M/V Sea Lion ran two tours out of Friday Harbor today, each with some spectacular sea and weather conditions and some great sightings of killer whales, harbor seals, bald eagles galore, and an exploration of some unique aspects of our marine ecosystem out here in the Salish Sea - like our amazing bull kelp forests and nutrient-dense waters. I've compiled and editted some of my favorite...
[7/13/17- M/V Kestrel- 10:00 AM]
Nothing like an orca calf to start your day off right! Today we left Friday Harbor for our morning whale watching tour and headed just North of Orcas Island to see a few transient orca families in action.
When we arrived on scene the orcas were fragmented between the two different groups, but they quickly grouped back up together and started traveling East quickly. We saw T51, the 36-year-old lone male who has been seen traveling with the T37’s for...