Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

It’s been an excellent year for Transient Killer Whales so far, and today was no exception! Recently there’s been a number of family groups hanging around the San Juan Islands, and we’ve been venturing up to Boundary Pass almost on the daily. Today we left the dock with similar reports and started our trek north.  

On the way up we stopped by a tiny rocky island just off of Waldron Island to look at some harbor seals that were hauled out on the banks. Harbor seals are a super yummy...

It's been an absolute fabulous few weeks to watch our transient killer whales here in the Salish Sea. These marine mammal eaters are frequently seen hunting their favorite meal - harbor seals - along with harbor porpoises, minke whales, and dolphins around our islands. Males need to intake about 450 pounds of food a day to satisfy their appetities, while females need a bit less. These incredible hunters take down their prey in a cooperative manner and share their kills, and any...

What better way to start your weekend than with a confirmed sighting of orcas within the reach of a whale watch tour? Today we left the dock and headed north to the Canadian Gulf Islands to watch some transient killer whales that were reported swimming around that area.

We made a beeline for their last reported location, just off Saturna and the Pender Islands in British Columbia. We arrived on scene to a bunch of splashing, fins, and flukes – we were in the midst of watching...

This Wednesday we had started out north with a super group of people. Captain Pete, Hannah, and I started out by looking for Transient Orcas that had been spotted near Mandarte Island just across the border into Canada. We followed them over the border for a little two nation tour. We watched this one family of transients spend a great deal of time socializing with each other until they turned quickly towards shore. They quickly organized to entrap and take down a Harbor Seal! These...

Did you know that our transient killer whales are also known as Bigg's killer whales? Dr. Michael Bigg was instrumental in pioneering killer whale identification research throughout the 1970's and 1980's, revealing the very distinct populations of orcas and also bringing to light the realization that the numbers of orcas in these popoulations were relatively low. Before Bigg, it was generally assumed that there were massive amounts of killer whales in the ocean and that they all ate...

Wow, did we cover a lot of water today! We had sunshine above and beautiful weather as we pulled out of Roche Harbor on our whale watch, but had some decisions to make regarding which direction to head today. We decided to seek out some whale activity that had been reported to the south of Orcas Island, so off we cruised. The ever-majestic bald eagles soared overhead, allowing us to see their massive 6-foot wingspan in all of its glory. Maybe they're getting excited for the Fourth of...

Yesterday we left the dock with reports of humpback whales just south of San Juan Island, a short jog from Friday Harbor. On our way there, we happened upon dozens of harbor seals just off of Cattle Point and paused to watch them fishing for the small fish being carried in by the quick flood.

We then carried on for a few more miles until we reached the location that the humpbacks had been spotted in last. Baleen whales especially love feeding in the waters between San Juan Island and...

What a day! We spent the afternoon hanging out with some transient killer whales (some of the T46 family) off of the Salmon Bank at the southern end of San Juan Island. These whales appeared to be on the prowl, and it looked like the young 4-year-old orca, T46F, might have been getting some hunting lessons from his family. We saw members of this family the day before as well on the other side of the Straight of Juan de Fuca, where they were hunting a harbor porpoise. Adult males do...

What an absolutely beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest! M/V Sea Lion left the dock early this afternoon with the sun sparkling on the water and a light breeze blowing - perfect conditions for whale watching. Instead of turning north today, we veered south, enjoying stunning views of the southern tip of San Juan Island on our way across the Straight of Juan de Fuca. We were in search of some transient killer whales that had been spotted earlier this morning. 

Along the way, we were...

Today we mixed things up a little bit by going south instead of north. Capt. Mike, Alex, and I motored out into Griffen Bay, then into the big wide blue of the waters south of the islands. This is where the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, and Puget Sound all meet up. So there is a lot of deep water. More water though means more chances for whales! We headed south with amazing views of the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier around 100 miles away. After scanning for a while we...