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Leaving Friday Harbor we headed towards the west side of San Juan Island where, Captain Mike and myself, met up with a few members of L Pod. We were able to cruise up the west side of the island and get great looks at some of the mature males of L Pod such as Mega, Solstice, Mystery, Skana, and Spirit! The west side is an excellent region to spot Orcas because of the high density of salmon coming through that area.
On our way back towards Friday Harbor we took a small detour over...

Another beautiful day on the water. Leaving Friday Harbor Captain Mike, myself and our guests, once again traveled north along San Juan Island before reaching the west side of Henry Island where we met up with northbound traveling J pod as well as the small group from L pod, the L12s. Right away we saw one of my favorite group of whales from J pod, the "Cookie Clan" consisting of J22 (Oreo), J34 (Doublestuff), and J38 (cookie).
As the whales traveled right next to Henry island we...

Mega has a large nick on the back edge of his dorsal fin and small nick farther down which makes him easy to identify.

We left our Friday Harbor location and eventually arrived on the north end of San Juan Island to find not only our resident J-pod but also a small group of L-pod known as the L-12s. This is the first time this season we've seen residents other than J-pod. The L-12s include the oldest male in the Southern Community, big L41, otherwise known as Mega.
After watching...

Couldn't have asked for a better day on the water. Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin, and myself were lucky enough to take out a great wedding party. The rainy skies cleared away for a beautiful sunny day and we only had to turn the corner out of Roche Harbor to spot J Pod. Couldn't get any easier! While watching off of Henry Island, J Pod seemed to be moving quickly along the coastline. We got to witness lots of porpoising and the occasional breaching. It was great to see these whales...

With our noon departure today Captain Mike and Naturalists Aimee and Kevin headed south with their guests. While heading south guests spotted a Sea Lion surfacing in the water. After getting a few good looks, Kevin and Aimee determined they were looking at a California Sea Lion. California Sea Lions are smaller than the Stellar Sea Lions however full grown males can get up to eight feet long. Moving along, a bald eagle was spotted on Whale Rocks and we decided to stop and get a...

After leaving our slip in Friday Harbor we were greeted with beautiful calm waters in San Juan Channel. Our destination today was north in to the Canadian waters hopefully to catch up with a Humpback whale spotted earlier in the day.
After a scenic ride north we entered the Strait of Georgia around East Point of Saturna Island where the Humpback was spotted just north of Tumbo Island. This whale was fairly non-directional possibly in a feeding behavior. This has been a excellent...

Heading North out of Friday Harbor the weather was looking slightly bleak, but once we got going on the water in turned into a beautiful day with smooth seas. When Captain Mike and myself came across a group of 7 transient orcas traveling through Active Pass, we were pleasantly surprised when a young calf popped up next to its mother. We got an excellent look at the pod when they decided to change directions and head within excellent photo range! After spending a good portion of time...

On the waters of the Salish Sea near Saturna Island we encountered a lone humpback. This humpback was found in similar region as the other humpbacks reported this week, and it is quite possible that this is the same humpback hanging around. Curiously enough, we seem to be seeing more humpbacks in this region than usual. This could be from a growing number of humpbacks or possibly an expansion of their migration patterns. It will be interesting to see how many stick around this summer...

With our noon departure today out of Friday Harbor, we had both the Sea Lion and the Kittiwake going out. Captain Mike with Naturalists Kevin and Caitlin on the Sea Lion and Captain Jim with Naturalist Aimee on the Kittiwake had full boats. We left the harbor and headed south toward whale rocks. This is a common place to find Harbor Seals hauled out and see Stellar Sea Lions. On our trip today we saw both Harbor Seals and Stellar Sea Lions hanging out down there. Stellar Sea...

With a report of a Humpback whale on the south end of San Juan Island we departed our Friday Harbor location with a full boat of eager guests. Approaching Cattle Pass we started seeing the blow of the Humpback. After watching the typical behavior of 3-4 surfacings before the fluke up dive followed by around a 4 minute down time, the humpback began an amazing display of breaching and pec slaps.
Humpback whales have the largest pectoral fins of all the great whales measuring 1/3 the...