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Schalk August 27, 2011 killer whale aka orca whale off San Juan Island

Schalk August 27, 2011 MV Sea Lion 55' new fast boat San Juan Island

Schalk August 27, 2011 Orca whale off San Juan Island

Schalk August 27, 2011 Orca whale in the mist off San Juan Island

Schalk August 27, 2011 Orca whale breaching off San Juan Island

Schalk August 27, 2011 Orca whale and the Sidney Ferry off San Juan Island

Schalk August 27, 2011 Lions Mane Jelly off San Juan Island

Schalk August...

It warms my heart when I see full grown adults get excited--yelling, pointing, shouting, oohing and aahing--over marine life!  'Cause I'm one of those adults too!

Today, with no orca reports in the Salish Sea, we headed out on the water with a boat full of curious and eager passengers and lots of hope to see marine life.  South from Friday Harbor, we started off with some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, five of which were lined up side by side like sausage links!  Further on at...

Transient killer whales were the big sea creatures in town today!  We filled up the Sea Lion vessel with eager passengers and went out to the Rosario Strait just past Orcas Island in search of ocean life.  In the distance, we could see a splash then a white cloud indicative of whale snot (a blow) and then a black fin.  After another minute, two more whales surfaced and then a female and a little orca.  But wait?  Was that another two orcas 400 yards away from the group of five?  Why...

Well, we just did the math.  From August 1- 29 we have ran a total of 49 Whale Watches.  Of those 49 trips we successfully located whales 47 times.  And not just Orca, but Minke and Humpback Whales as well!!  That is a 96% success rate at seeing whales on our trips.

On top of whales we have also been seeing Stellar's Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoise, Dall's Porpoise, and Bald Eagles on a regular basis.  One day we even encountered an Elephant Seal.

Every day is different.  We...

Today we traveled all the way to Victoria to see one lone transient.  He was magnificent.  It was a long haul but when we arrived he appeared to be patrolling up and down the rocks.  He has one of the broadest dorsal fins I have ever seen.

The word on the street was that he had been harassing a sea lion prior to our arrival.  When we got there he was just cruising, back and forth along the rocks, occasionally rolling slightly on his side as if he was looking up toward the rocks to...

Attached are two pictures of Sea Lions, taken during my visit to San Juan Island last week. These pictures were taken while on the Whale Watching tour with San Juan Safari, on 8/20 - the Sunset Tour. Sending these for the photo contest, under "Other Wildlife" category. Ashwin

Sea Lion off San Juan Island by Ashwin

Sea Lion near San Juan Island

It was easy, maybe too easy, finding killer whales today. We headed up north from Friday Harbor, and just east of Spieden Island we encountered both K and L pods. They were everywhere around us! Breaching, spy hopping, and tail slapping. After watching them for a while, we headed back south towards Cattle Point. We saw harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and a juvenile bald eagle. Then, as we headed back into the harbor we encountered the killer whales again! And they were still being...

Another calm clear day around San Juan Island.  We were able to find most of the Southern Residents heading north past the west side of the island.  As we came on scene we found a nice group of about 10 animals traveling together.  It was difficult to get good IDs but there was one adult male with the group.  We got to enjoy their company for a while as they moved towards Turn Point.  They exhibited a nice range of behaviors including porpoising, spy hopping, tail lobbing, and even a...

After two whole days without orcas around (but with Humpbacks and Minkes!) our residents returned to the sound in full force. There were lots of animals around on the way up to see the whales: harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and even a bald eagle! As for the whales,  there were groups representing all 3 pods up in the area between Stuart and Pender Islands.  When we came on scene the whales we were with appeared to be resting. After about 20 minutes they suddenly turned around and...

Headed out between Shaw and Lopez Islands, past Orcas and out towards Lummi Island, we were in search of the ever-popular but very elusive (in the Pacific Northwest) humpback whale.  Clocking in at an average 45 feet (school bus size) and 80,000 pounds, they are in the top ten largest animals to ever roam the Earth.  Could we find one?

We saw boats out by Lummi, and continued towards them.  And then, we saw a blow!  And then another.  But wait, there was another set of blows!  We had...