Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

What an amazing trip we had today! We left our dock today in Friday Harbor without any whale reports once again, so Captain Mike and I decided we were going to head north to see what we could find in that region. We were looking for transient killer whales; this kind of killer whale hunts marine mammals. There is ample food for them north of San Juan Island including harbor seals, harbor porpoise, Steller Sea Lions (the largest in the world), and even Dall's Porpoise! What we found...

We left our Friday Harbor location Sunday with strong winds, a little bit of rain, and choppy water. Still, our spirits were high in hopes of finding killer whales in the Salish Sea even though we didn't have a confirmed killer whale sighting that day. We headed north in search of Transient killer whales, or mammal-hunting killer whales. We came across many harbor seals, harbor porpoise and even some steller sea lions. These are all great food sources for transients. However, when...

With impending rain, Captain Mike steered the M/V Sea Lion north with Naturalists Heather and Emily, and guests in tow.  The goal: transient killer whales off North Pender Island in Canada.  A little Northwest rain did not dampen any spirits on board and before we knew it we were rewarded with great views of 7 transient orcas traveling southeast in Swanson Channel.  T137 and her offspring T137A, T137B, and T137D were traveling with T36A and her two offspring T36A-1 and T36A-2.  It...

Captain Mike, Naturalists Emily and Kevin, and guests on board the Sea Lion were lucky enough to see K Pod on yesterday's Whale Watch Tour!  This is the first tour of the year where we were able to view our Southern Resident Killer Whales.  K Pod, comprised of 19 individual orcas, returned in full to the waters surrounding San Juan Island.  This pod was spread out into 3 traveling groups, all headed east from Victoria, B.C. towards the west side of San Juan Island.  K Pod is...

Although the day started out grey, the sunshine quickly took over in the San Juan Islands.  Captain Mike lead Naturalist Emily, Naturalist Kevin, and the guests on board the M/V Sea Lion north out of Friday Harbor in the pursuit of orcas.  We started the morning with no orca reports, which is common in the early season, so we went to look in areas that orcas frequent in the San Juans. As we were headed around the north side of Spieden Island two dorsal fins were spotted and moments...

Spring has sprung in the Pacific North West and everyone is ready to get back on the water!  With our first Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour in two weeks time, we are all hoping for a great season.  Recent predictions concerning salmon runs should contribute to another wonderful summer.  Canada is predicting up to 72 million sockeye salmon to return to the Frasier River this summer, which is far higher than the typical 3-4 million.  Chinook and coho salmon are predicted to return in...

Many animals call the San Juan Islands home.  From kelp crabs to orcas and finches to eagles the San Juans have and abundance of species.  With both ocean and land environments, birds of all sorts abound on San Juan Island.  Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons are two top predators of the sky.

Bald Eagles are well known as the national bird of the United States.  Bald Eagles mate for life and return every year to the same nest.  They even have the ingenuity to build a second next, just...

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...