Captain Craig and I left Friday Harbor with a group of enthusiastic guests to explore the wonder the islands have to offer. Having only heard news of whales heading west past Trial Island (near Victoria) -which is too far for us to reach, especially in a rolly-polly Haro Strait - we headed north to...Read more
Reports were in early of the southern resident J pod sightings around Active pass. While this is good news it can also mean that the whales may be just out of our reach should they continue north. Active pass is in Canada so this meant we were in for a long haul. Luckily Captain Craig put the pedal...Read more
Its been a prolific past 9 days marred by only been 1 day whale-less day. We've been blessed by humpbacks, transient orcas and resident orcas. For the past few days we've seen the easily identifiable T-40. Transient male dorsal fins can get up to 6 ft. tall and T-40 is all male. Born in 1961, the...Read more
It must be since Capt. Hook just arrived! That is right, we spent the day with good old Capt. Hook and, in this story, his jolly gals. And we did not have to go more than twenty minutes down San Juan Channel before we met up with them. Transient orcas T40, or Capt. Hook as he is affectionately...Read more
Okay, well it was actually all of us on the M/V Sea Lion that were doing the rocking and rolling, but I am sure that the orcas were having some fun too. Especially if all of the breaches by the calf were any indication of their state of mind. The waters were rough, (unusual for the San Juan Islands...Read more
It was a bit of a rocky day out there with 2 foot swells, but it was still a great day! The Southern Resident L- pod was first spotted off False Bay on the southwest side of the island. The pod was spread out into several smaller groups. We chose to take a look at a smaller group that seemed to be...Read more
Working as a Naturalist, I have become accustomed to going with the flow (pardon the nautical idiom.) This is often an acquired skill for people, as wildlife has a way of constantly thwarting our wishes to watch them in their natural setting. With a world now filled with zoos, aquariums, and Sea...Read more