Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Today we shuffled around Spieden, Stewart and some of the inner islands. As we boarded the boat we prepared for a wet day, but it actually turned out to be very nice. On the south side of Spieden we saw at least 30 or so Mouflon Sheep and got to see the very first Mink of the season, scurrying along the shoreline. We then made our way around Stewart, through John’s Pass, and through the Cactus Islands seeing numerous Harbors Seals hauled out on small rocky islets and a lone Bald...

Our journey took us north.  As we motored through the San Juan Channel we cruised along and observed the Sika Deer and Mouflon Sheep on Spieden Island.  We continued north through the scenic Cactus Islands and across the border into Canadian Waters.

Have you ever seen an eagle taking a bath?  Well, we did!  On the south side of Spieden, our national symbol had found a hollow in the rocks and was enjoying a fresh-water bath.  He was not shy.

On through Johns Pass and a view of...

Salmon Bank was the place to be today. We headed south out of Friday Harbor, prepared for rain but pleasantly surprised that it stopped just as we left our boat slip. Along our way we stopped to view a large group of harbor seals hauled out. A few gave us a demonstration of how phocids, true seals, move around on land without being able to rotate their hind flippers under their body by scooting off the rocks into the water. Continuing south, we slowed by Goose Island to watch and...

Unfortunately there were no reports or sightings of Orcas whales in the region today, but we did get to see an amazing amount of other marine and terrestrial wildlife! We traveled approximately 50 miles round trip visiting Spieden Island, Mandarte, Turn Point (Stewart Island), and Patos Island. On Spieden we found some Mouflon Sheep and a couple Bald Eagles along with numerous Harbor Seals hauled out on small, rocky islets. At Mandarte, we engaged in hundreds of Cormorants building...

Today we visited five Orca Whales on the western side of D’Arcy Island (48°04.14N, 123°18.21W). As we approached the scene we could immediately tell they were Transients based on their stealthy behavior. Once they went under no one knew when, or where, they would come up next. After continually changing paths they unexpectedly surfaced right towards our boat providing us with a great amount of excitement and the most amazing view! There was one LARGE male, his dorsal fin standing...

It was a calm and foggy day out on the water.  The majestic M/V Sea Lion cruised out of the mist on an exploration for whales!  We headed south through Cattle Pass towards Admiralty Inlet, and just beyond Smith Island (48°20’N, 122°58’W), we found two groups of transient orcas.  We estimated about 10 orcas altogether.  We were on a zig-zag pattern and it was though they were swimming on all sides towards the southwest.  Two breached and put on a show!  We also had a visit by a Minke...

We were very lucky today because the whales made it easy to view them! The transient, marine mammal eating, killer whales were right off San Juan Island. We headed south out of Friday Harbor and only had to travel to Griffin Bay before we saw a giant, male killer whale dorsal fin slice through the water. Shortly after, more dorsal fins came up followed by the misty, powerful blows of their exhalations. We counted five Orcas total, one of which looked to be a small calf! The whales...

Members of J-pod, K-pod, and L-Pod where traveling together again today out in Rosario Strait just southwest of Lopez Island; coordinates 48°24.051N 122°50.23W. Within a few minutes of reaching the area, the Sea Lion (our boat) was surrounded by whales on all sides! It didn’t matter in which direction we looked everyone was bound to see the whales surface. And man did it seem like they were in their realm!! We saw almost every behavior possible; from spyhopping to lobtailling to...

Today we headed out into the Georgia Strait where we had originally heard of a sighting of 3 transient orcas. Unfortunately as we got closer to the area, we were informed that the group had suddenly switched direction and were headed northwest at a high speed. There was no way our boat or any others from Friday Harbor could catch up with them so we aborted.

We then got news of some Dall’s Porpoise in Active Pass and were fortunate enough to catch up with them. It was a group of about...

Sent in by Thomas Caporuscio from Friday, April 27, 2012

See the blog from April 27, 2012