Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

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...

Yesterday, Captain Pete, Sarah Cutting, and I set off on a classic Pacific Northwest day full of low hanging clouds, mist scarping the trees, and that filtered light that makes all the green in western Washington sing. We started off north and scooted by Flattop Island to look at some Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks and swimming in the kelp beds around this federally protected island. Next we headed further north towards Saturna Island in Canada, right where two major waterways...

Sometimes we forget that when going on a whale watch we are observing wild animals, in their natural habitat, performing their natural behaviors. This is what makes whale watches so exciting and unique, but it is also an added challenge. Every day our trips are dictated by the movement and whereabouts of wild animals, and seeing how orcas can travel up to 100 miles a day, each morning we start out with a blank slate and a large sea of potential.

Today’s trip brought us as far north...

There are two ecotypes of killer whales that inhabit the Salish Sea throughout the year – the transients and the residents. Killer whale ecotypes are both genetically and behaviorally distinct, meaning they don’t interbreed, they have different behaviors, they speak different languages, and they look slightly different. The main distinguisher between transient and resident killer whales is their feeding habits. While transient killer whales feed on marine mammals, resident killer...

On Friday we went up north! We started our daily search for cetaceans by heading up near Flattop Island to both look at some Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles on this Federally protected island and also look in several different channels to see if any whales could be spotted. None yet so we headed east now through one of my favorite channels in the islands, President Channel! It runs between Orcas and Waldron Island so our journey east was framed by steep wooded slopes on Orcas and...

A new paper has come out indicating that Orcas’ evolution has been partially driven by culture. There are ten ecotypes worldwide. They each have different prey, look a little bit different, but most importantly their behavior differs between each ecotype as well. This stems from the fact that many of their behaviors are learned behaviors including hunting methods, communication, and socialization activities. The distinct ecotypes have developed different forms of a lot of these...

What do Orca Naturalists in the San Juan Islands Actually Do?

“So, what do you do for work?” Anytime that I travel, or really any time that I find myself talking to a stranger, the "career" question always comes up.

“I am a marine naturalist, with a primary focus on killer whales or orcas, in the...

I don’t know if y’all remember the ‘90’s but I sure do. The biggest thing and maybe one of the more unfortunate things that I do remember are, of course, frosted tips. You probably remember these and have a general idea about how they are engineered into hair. You may even no be experiencing a wave of nostalgia as an NSYNC song plays in your head. But what you probably don’t know is that some marine mammals are still really into the ‘90’s…

            We started off this Sunday trip...