Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

L pod was near False Bay (on San Juan Island) today.
L pod is one of the three pods that make up the Southern Resident Killer Whales. Southern Resident killer whales were listed as an endangered species in the united states in November of 2005. There are a number of threats to these animals, but two declining fish populations and contamination are the largest contributors.

Today we were able to identify L-78, Gaia, a male. We also saw a breach by what appeared to be a youngster...

It was a perfect day to spot and see marine mammals: no wind, calm seas, and overcast skies, so there was little glare on the water.

We left Friday Harbor with a report of Minke Whales to the south at Hein Bank. Hein Bank is a place where it gets shallow due to an underwater sea mount or bank...there's kelp growing here and plenty of places for smaller fish and animals to hide around. For this reason it tends to be a great place for marine birds, seals, and Minke whales to feed...

It was a beautiful evening and Capt. Craig, the guests and I rushed right out to be a part of it. Actually, we were rushing because there were reports of Orcas in the vicinity and they were moving away from us. We quick got the group on board and the MV Sea Lion under way and motored out of the harbor.

A small charter boat had followed two transient Orcas up the coast of Vancouver Island to Active Pass between Galiano and Mayne Islands, B.C. We caught up with them on the east side of...

The Puget Sound is a very biologically diverse inland sea. We have many species of marine mammals, birds, invertebrates, algae and more.

The most popular marine mammal is the orca, which is actually the largest member of the dolphin family. Today's safari included lots of bald eagles, porpoises, seals and bull kelp (brown algae).

Bull kelp is very interesting and important to our ecosystem. It is a primary producer, using the sunlight to grow and ends up feeding many organisms....

As spring advances towards summer here and the days become longer in the San Juan Islands, we at San Juan Safaris shift into our evening sunset tours along with the lengthening sunlight. This particular Saturday marked our first late tour of the season and it was a glorious one. The sun shone through a clear sky, but the wind made jackets a necessity, especially out on the water. As Capt. Peter maneuvered us out of Friday Harbor and I talked with the guests aboard the MV Sea Lion we...

WOW!!! We saw so many bald eagles today... We even got a glimpse of about five in one tree.

It is so wonderful that the bald eagle populations have made such a comeback. Bald eagles were greatly affected by DDT, a pesticide, due to bio magnification. DDT was causing thinning of egg shells. Bald eagles were listed as an endangered species in 1967 and were believed to be on the brink of extinction. By 1972 DDT had been banned in the US, and on July 12, 1995 the bald eagles were...

This is a week of firsts, I am telling you. Today we were treated to another rare sighting and that was a Humpback Whale. Even the captain said she has not seen one of these in the waters directly around San Juan Island in two years. The whale did not seem to realize the frenzy that it was causing with the wildlife watching companies. Clearly it was just there to eat and not be a media star. Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I fell under the whale's spell just like all of our guests on the...

Wow! After three days off what a comeback. I showed up at the office this morning to news of Orcas in the area, but they were different from those that we had been seeing. The excitement was palpable as our group of 25 guests, along with Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I motored out into the great unknown. Would the whales stay in an area where we could see them, would there be as many as were reported, would Capt. Nancy remember Jeanette's name today? It was all a mystery and we...

Southern Resident Killer Whales on the west side of San Juan Island. We identified members of L-pod, one of the three pods of the southern resident killer whales. We first saw some members of L-pod just south of Lime Kiln State Park heading North. Just as we decided to make a trip around San Juan Island following the orcas, they changed their direction and began heading South. We quickly changed our direction and began heading south as well. We watched as the orcas traveled and even...

Another interesting day on the water....the same two K-pod members, mama K-20 and 5 year old calf K-38 were on the move and at quite a clip! We caught up with these 2 resident Orcas in Canadian waters off the Gulf Islands. They definitely covered some ground (or should i say sea)...since yesterday when we saw them in the Strait of Juan de Fuca east of Port Angeles. Our guests really did enjoy the serenity of watching the whales surface while listening as they breathed! We turned...