Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Today was amazing. We left Friday Harbor (both at 1:30 and 5:30) with confirmed whale reports for the west side of the island. We made our way and soon enough were among dozens of Southern resident killer whales. This included the K13s, the J19s, and many other matrilines. Although they were fairly spread out at times, we are confident that they were traveling together because orcas can communicate from a few miles away from each other. Nonetheless, if I didn't know any better, I...

First of all Happy Canada Day Everyone! Woo and what a Canada Day it has been. Capt. Mike, Brendan, and I left Friday Harbor with a super fun group and a very sunny day. There were some reports of Killer Whales a little south of Discovery Island, which is just off the southern tip of Vancouver Island. So despite what people tell you it the temperature doesn't immediately drop ten degrees when we cross into Canadian waters, but I so try to start saying units in  metric though. We soon...

Today we embarked from Friday Harbor without having decided which report we were going to pursue, having heard that there were whales North of East Point, as well as on the west side. We turned south in San Juan Channel to try our luck on the West side. On our way out there, we passed Goose Island. Unfortunately, Goose Island caught on the fire the other day, and a large portion of the nests (of 4 bird species) burned up in the flames. The smell of smoke is evident if you are...

Today we left the dock with reports of resident orcas out on the West side of San Juan Island.  It was a beautiful sunny day here in Friday Harbor so our trip out to the whales was filled with sunshine.  We met up with the K14's on the South side of Stuart Island.  We first spotted K26 (Lobo), an adult male with a 6 foot dorsal fin, feeding in the area.  We also got a great look at K42 (Kelp), the youngest member of the K14's.  The whales then started moving towards the Cactus...

Today Captain Brian, Naturalist Rachel and I headed North towards Canadian waters, with reports of part of one of our Resident, salmon-eating pods, J Pod traveling along Saturna Island's shore. As we arrived on scene, Captain Brian did a wonderful job maneuvering so that we were not only saying the legal limit away from the whales (100 meters in Canadian waters), but also getting the best looks possible. We quickly realized that we were looking at one of the current famous families...

Today we had two different whale reports by the time we left the dock; J-pod coming down from East Point, and transients coming through President's channel. Along the way, we decided to go for the transients, or Bigg's killer whales. Transients are mammal-eaters, a stark contrast between their culture and that of the resident killer whales (whom eat only fish). They'll work together to hunt for harbor seals, sea lions, porpoises, or even larger whales. An adult male orca can eat...

On Thursday afternoon the folks on the Sea Lion got some great views of some J Pod orcas on the west side of San Juan Island! J Pod is one of the 3 pods that make up the Southern Resident Killer Whale Population. This group was wonderful to watch as they travelled south past Lime Kiln State Park. They appeared to be in a celebratory mood as they did some tail slaps, cartwheels (when they lift their tail out of the water and rotate it to the side before slapping it down), and even...

Today we left the dock in high spirits with two options to see whales. Captain Mike certainly made the right choice, and as we came to decision time, the proverbial fork in the road, we headed North into the Haro Strait. The results couldn't have been better. Breaching killer whales are always impressive and as we got closer to a few other boats in the whale watching fleet, it was obvious we were in for a show. I counted at least six breaches before we even got close enough for most...

With the boat freshly cleaned, the sun in the sky, and a report of whales headed southwest down Haro Straight, we departed from Friday Harbor at 1:30 on the dot. Shortly after riding through Cattle Pass, we spotted our first dorsal fins. We soon realized that we had A LOT of orcas with us, probably 40-50, likely some members of each J, K, and L pod. When multiple pods come together like this, it is very possible that it is a breeding event. As far as we know, the southern resident...

All three Resident Orca pods were away from the islands for a few days but returned to the area yesterday evening! This afternoon we met up with part of J pod, the J-16s, off of Henry Island. Slick (J-16) is the matriarch of this family and she was hunting with her adult son, Mike (J-26), her adult daughters, Alki (J-36) and Echo (J-42). There are two brand new members to this family as well! The new members are Slick's daughter, J-50 who was born in December and Alki's calf, J-52...