Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

It was another hot one here in the San Juan Islands on Monday, especially for May, but that means were get a little bit more sun and after a long, grey winter that is okay sometimes. Captain Mike and I set out with high hopes and headed north with a wonderful group of folks. We headed so far north that we eventually made it into Canada, and soon there they were. You could see the blows first and then large, dark, shark-like fins slicing through the water as this family of Transient...

1. Humpback Whales Are Huge!

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is the 5th largest of the great whales. An adult humpback whale can grow to 60 feet in length and weigh up to 80,000 pounds. As with most baleen whales, female humpback whales are larger than males. The largest recorded humpback whale was a female estimated to be 89 feet long and nearly 200,000 pounds. 

Also known as the “big-winged New Englander,” humpback whales are most recognized  for their disproportionally...

What do you think about when you think about sound? Maybe you think about music, or birds, or waves crashing, but I bet you think about all of those sounds going into your ears right? We hear sounds all the time, even when we’re sleeping, but imagine a world that you experience almost everything through sound. This the world of dolphins, and especially the largest species of dolphin, the orca. Orcas echolocate. This is how they mainly interact with their watery world and it kind of...

Did you know that orcas live all over the world? They’re a cosmopolitan species just like us, the humans! There are ten distinct ecotypes worldwide that look similar but differ, in their behavior and their feeding habits. Here in the beautiful Salish Sea around the San Juan Islands there are two ecotypes that commonly pass through our waters! In the summer the famous Southern Residents swim through the islands in search of Chinook Salmon, but year round there is another ecotype that...

This Friday, we got a very welcome break from the heat wave that hit us earlier this week. Capt. Pete and I headed out to a cool, calm afternoon. We’re currently in the shoulder season where anything can happen. This area is most famous for seeing the Southern Resident Killer Whales, but they make up only a small portion of the cetaceans and marine mammals that call this place home. They are also not even the only type of Killer Whale that inhabits this area! There is another ecotype...

Yesterday we had a rollercoaster of a trip: there were ups, there were downs, and sometimes it even felt like we were flip turned upside down. Let me elaborate…

We left Friday harbor with killer whales reported everywhere around us, we had a few groups of killer whales reported to the south moving away from Friday Harbor, some whales out West by Victoria heading west, and we had a group of whales who reportedly were moving towards us up North near Prevost Island in the Canadian Gulf...

Orcas, Killer Whales, Blackfish, Sea Pandas – the species scientifically labeled Orcinus orca is known by many names, and they are probably one of the most distinctive looking mammals in the sea. Although these large, intelligent, black and white dolphins look a lot different than you or me, you’d be surprised how similar we and they are… but first let’s talk about an awesome day.

            It was one of the sunniest and clearest days that I’ve seen this spring as we left...

Some days you just get lucky. In April, the orcas are a little harder to predict. The Southern Resident Killer Whales who eat fish are always in and out traveling long distances to find the best fishing spots in the spring, whereas in the summer they usually follow a regular pattern of following the main Salmon schools up and down the west side of the islands towards Vancouver. The Transient Killer Whales are always hard to predict since they travel in smaller groups and zig-zag...

If you look at many people’s bucket lists, kayaking in the San Juan Islands is often near the top. The chance to paddle in some of the Pacific Northwest’s world-renowned crystal clear waters, always with the potential for exciting encounters with wildlife!

The San Juan Islands

The San Juan Islands are a small archipelago in the most northwestern corner of the continental United States. Comprised of 743 islands, rocks, and reefs (dependent on tide), and with only four islands serviced...

On Saturday, we had a pretty unique trip.  Our crew had the honor of assisting in the memorial service of a long-time island resident. Our guests said their goodbyes on a beautiful sunny day in front of the back drop of the Olympic Mountains. As the current gently pushed us along in San Juan Channel and the service ended Captain Mike had a hunch that There may be some Transient Orcas travelling in the thick fog bank sliding through Haro Strait. Transient Orcas usually travel in...