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Another fabulous day on San Juan Island! Our Owner and Captain Brian was out on the water today and spotted transient orcas near Henry Island late this morning.  T18 was out with the T19 group hunting in Open Bay and off Battleship Island.  We often see these transient orcas in the summer months as well.  Harbor seals were the main course this morning, a favorite of transient orcas.  Brian observed lots a vocalizations after the hunt was over.  Transients are often seen "celebrating"...

On February 11, 2012, L112 a 3 year old Southern Resident Killer Whale was found stranded on the shores of Long Beach Washington.  L112, more lovingly referred to as Sooke, was the daughter of L86 Surprise!.  After two years of debate and research,  it has been concluded that Sooke died of a massive blunt force trauma to the head and neck.  It was proposed that sonar and explosives  were the cause of death as the Canadian Navy confirmed they were doing testing off the coast of...

J Pod made an appearance this past week traveling through Haro Strait.  With exceptionally high winds this week, the Haro has been rougher than usual, but this did not stop J Pod from trudging through.  In the summer months the Haro Strait is often very calm, as it is very protected by Vancouver Island.  During winter months, the normally placid waters around San Juan, can become windswept and whitecaped.

Of the 3 Southern Resident Pods, J Pod stays closest to home during the winter...

San Juan Island has seen just about every type of weather in the last week. Currently, it is everyone's favorite: blue skies and sunny! We are hoping this weather lasts. All of the sunshine is making it feel like summer is right around the corner. We are already gearing up for the season and taking many reservations for 2014.

While we have not seen orcas recently, there was a Grey whale that popped into Puget Sound to say "hello" earlier this week.  Grey whales are baleen whales, or...

J-Pod, and L-87, made an appearance in the San Juans this weekend. Vocalizations were heard over the hydrophone at Lime Kiln State Park Saturday night. As to their current location, some faint vocalizations were picked up on the Port Townsend hydrophone, but nobody has seen or heard from them sense. A group of possibly 30 transient orcas were spotted up in Canadian waters this weekend as well.

While the snow has turned to rain here on San Juan Island, the flakes are still coming...

Growing up in Oregon, I never saw Bald Eagles. While the osprey was ever present, the eagle never showed itself. This past winter when I was visiting Oregon, I saw many Bald Eagles. It was awesome to be out on the river, and see an eagle perched in a tree.

Eagles are making a phenomenal come back and it is ever present in the San Juans. With a number 4 ranking in population in the US, Bald Eagle populations in the San Juans are soaring. While eagles are still protected, they...

Well, where are the whales? Our reports these last two weeks have been few and far between, which is not uncommon in January and February. Male L87 and J pod were making very good use of the Salish Sea prior to about 10 days ago, with lots of sightings and reports in both the Strait of Georgia and South Puget Sound. J pod was briefly heard vocalizing on the Lime Kiln Lighthouse hydrophone on January 19th, 20th, and 21st.

In addition to the scarce Southern Resident killer whale...

Our Southern Resident killer whales visited the waters on the west side of San Juan Island three this last week. Now, if only they traveled through the Salish Sea during the day! Each visit happened in the dark between 7pm and midnight. Although we did not see J & K pods in the daylight, we seriously enjoyed their playful chatter on the OrcaSound.net  hydrophones. There are two hydrophones located on the west side of San Juan Island. The hydrophone node at Lime Kiln State Park is...

December 26, 2013 - Sunset over Friday Harbor

We've said it a hundred times, but this fall & winter have been spectacular for whale & wildlife reports. This is the time of year where our Southern Resident Orcas broaden their travel territory greatly, and spend more time in the South Puget Sound. Christmas Day was no different, and we received early reports of J & K pods near Seattle. They swung past Shilshole Harbor & Marina & Discovery Park and mostly did the "Seattle Shuffle."...

Both our Southern Resident killer whales and Transient killer whales were sighted several times in the past few days. Our Resident (fish-eating) Orcas have been in and out of South Puget Sound, giving our friends in the Seattle area a great opportunity to see Orcas in the wild right in their neck of the woods. Check out these photos with west Seattle in the background. Very cool! And again this morning (as I write this!), we have reports of killer whales near Bainbridge & Vashon...