Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Yesterday, the skies cleared to reveal a wonderfully blue sky with wispy, white clouds. The last few days we have been lucky here. This year has been marked as a historically low salmon year, and for this reason we have not seen the Resident Orcas (whose main food source is salmon) very much in the Salish Sea. This past week J pod of the Residents Orcas has been in and around the islands hunting for salmon. On Sunday, we headed south to arrive on the southern side of the islands to...

We’re right in the peak of jellyfish season here in the Salish Sea, so we’re starting to see a few different varieties floating around all the way from Georgia Strait to the shallows of Friday Harbor. If you sit on the docks of the marina, you may see a water jelly or a moon jelly lazily working its way through the water. If you come out on a whale watch and wildlife tour, you’re almost guaranteed to get your fill of jellyfish watching as well, and the kiddos may find them even more...

Every day is a new mission at San Juan Safaris - some days we only have to travel 5 miles outside the harbor to see something interesting, and some days we have to travel all the way up to the Canadian Gulf Islands, to an unconfimed report of possible killer whales traveling away from us at a pretty good speed. Chasing rumors like this is exactly what some of us need to satisfy our adventurous spirit, so we took our chances and, with the approval from a charter of four willing...

The best part about whale watching with San Juan Safaris? Every single day is different out here! New routes between islands, amazing views of different types of wildlife around every channel...it always keeps us on our toes and it's what makes our whale watches more than just a boat trip. It's an adventure!

Yesterday we had an opportunity to head up north towards Cherry Point, near the town of White Rock in B.C., to view a pod of transient killer whales. It looked to be an...

Fourth of July on San Juan Island is like no other. Hundreds of people flee the city life to head to this little island to experience the parades, fireworks, picnics, fun runs, and various other festivities that are offered on the July 4th weekend. Both Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor have an impressive array of events for the entire family to enjoy. Some favorites? The log-rolling and donut eating contests are a favorite in Roche! Even if you choose not to participate in the powdered...

We left the dock today with reports of two killer whales just off of the west coast of San Juan Island. We headed north initially and rounded the top of the island before turning south into Haro Strait. We picked up some nice waves at that point, hopping over three-footers caused by the tide and the wind moving in opposite directions. After the equivalent of a splash mountain ride later, we arrived on scene to calming seas and two adult male transient killer whales riding the tide...

For all you conservation-minded folk out there, we've got wind of some exciting news from San Francisco! The city has unanimously voted to ban the sale of any and all styrofoam (aka polystyrene) products by 2017. But why is this such a big deal, you ask? It's a HUGE deal! Styrofoam causes all sorts of environmental problems, and if we can prevent it from even being produced, we'd be taking another step towards the health of our beautiful planet. Styrofoam is a petroleum-based plastic...

When you have the chance to watch orcas in their natural habitat, you can't help but be humbled. These magnificent creatures can regularly swim over 100 miles in a day and can dive up to 900 feet - needless to say, they can cover significant distances in a short amount of time. But all that travel, combined with breaks for hunting and socializing, can sure tucker out a trekking transient. So what's a tired whale to do?

Uni-hemispheric sleep, we call it! It's a technique utilized by...

The beauty of the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea really shone through today, with the sun beaming overhead, bald eagles soaring every which way you looked, and plenty of miraculous killer whales to get excited over. Today we watched some frisky transient orcas that were hanging out only a quick cruise north of Friday Harbor, a bit to the east of Spieden Island. It was absolutely incredible! We came upon two pods of transients that had just that morning come together and were...

Ever heard of a rorqual? Try saying that word ten times fast! Rorquals are the largest group of baleen whales, and even include the largest known mammal on Earth, the blue whale (those fellas can reach up to 200 tons - WOW). But what exactly is a baleen whale? There's some basic facts that can help you organize your thought process when you're comparing an odontocete (toothed whale) with a mysticete (baleen whale). Mysticetes have two blowholes. They're filter feeders. And they can...