Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Several members of the Southern Resident Killer Whale population were seen in Rosario Strait today (48°38.49N, 122°43.12W). The whales were spread out from Lummi and Sinclair Islands all the way to Orcas Island.

The Killer Whales were initially traveling in small groups of 3-4 individuals before forming one larger group. This larger group, of at least 12 whales, were traveling in very close proximity with one another, and appeared to be swimming and surfacing right on top of each...

What I love about living in a rain shadow is that the weather tends to clear up in the afternoon, just around the time we reach whales. Today was one of those days. We departed Friday Harbor at 1:30 pm in a hazy fog, heading south. Expecting at least some rain, we all suited up in our yellow rain slickers, binoculars in hand. There were a few harbor porpoise, but what was super unusual were the two huge, male Stellar sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks! We typically see these sea...

What a difference a day makes; we had blue skies and the glorious warm sun to greet us as we cruised out of Friday Harbor.  First wildlife sighting was just north of Griffin Bay with several harbor seals getting a suntan.  Next we viewed a bald eagle’s nest and admired the massive construction.  It is incredible to think that they can be six feet in diameter.  As we rounded Cattle Point, we were on the lookout for orcas!  Sure enough we saw L87 “Onyx” foraging outside of False Bay...

Many thanks to Mark for sending in these

absolutely wonderful Orca Whale and Bald Eagle photos.

Whale Watching Naturalist Celebrates Birthday Whale Watching

Few people actually witness such an event, but Friday the 13th appeared to be a lucky day for the sunset tour.

A greeting ceremony is performed when different pods of the southern residents come together and reunite with one another, welcoming each other home after a long period of time spent apart.

The ceremony was initiated by an adult male who pulled his entire body out of the water, breaching twice in a row. We slowly approached the area of the breach and began to see multiple...

We circumnavigated San Juan Island today, seeing wild life all the way around. We left Friday Harbor heading south and ran into a group of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. Shortly after, around Goose Island, there was another large group of seals foraging in the water!

Continuing around to the west side, we ran into some fog and slowed. We could make out some boats, so we stopped and started to look for whales. Through the fog we heard the distinctive “powoof” of a killer whale...

We caught up with killer whales just as they were swimming across Turn Point, off Stuart Island, heading west. The whales were not just slowly traveling by; they were porpoising out of the water, moving fast! All together there were four of them. Two were right next to each other, their bodies flying out of the water in full synchronization.

Four more killer whales followed shortly after. There were two large males in this small group. We could see their massive dorsal fins at least...

Yup, just WOW. 

Today was one of those “monumental” kind of days. Both boats, the Sea Lion and the Kittiwake, got THE MOST amazing views of our Southern Resident Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island between Lime Kiln and Hannah Heights (48°28.36N, 123°05.02W).

The first whale we spotted was Blackberry (J27). He was initially foraging, but after a few moments he grew extremely friendly and curious of the Kittiwake. He swam parallel to the boat stunning our guests with...

Great whale watching out in Haro Strait today! Whales were spread out between Stewart Island and Lime Kiln State Park. We caught up with our first pair, mama and calf, just off Henry Island, near Kellet Bluff (48°34.60N, 123°12.03W). They were moving extremely fast, almost to be confused with porpoise, looking as if they were trying to catch up with the rest of the pack on the western side of San Juan.

After traveling with them for a bit, another female appeared out of nowhere...