Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

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...

It wasn’t exactly the nicest day on San Juan Island, but having it rain did not prevent us from going out and seeing the wildlife the Salish Sea has to offer. We first saw a bald eagle perched in a dead looking tree. Then, we saw some whales I haven’t seen for over two months…transients! There were four of them, traveling very quickly, their dorsal fins waving in front of us. It was the T-19 group, and I love seeing the transients because they are really the coolest, top predator of...

The reports were that the killer whales were headed far west, out towards the Pacific Ocean. But this gave us a chance to see all the other wildlife the Salish Sea has to offer. So we headed north out of Friday Harbor on our way to Patos Island. On the way we spotted a whole bunch of harbor seals, including pups, hauled out on rocky areas as well as in the water. We then saw a bald eagle, perched overlooking the sea. Plus, this far north we were able to see an amazing view of Mount...

These days I hail from Maui, Hawaii and it's rare for me to say it's hot in Washington.  But today, it was hot!  In town.  And quite comfortable on the water as well.  We traveled out to be next to the Olympic Peninsula and the snow covered mountains; and it was a day of epic weather, water and visibility.

We started our trip headed south from the harbor to some harbor seals lounging on their rocky haul-out.  At Cattle Pass, we found their cousins, the stellar or northern sea lions...

Today was the first time I have seen east point in what seems like months.  We ended up at the south end of Saturna to catch up with L pod, headed north.  They were cruising.  When we got there  they were moving at a slowish speed, which was great because we were able to catch up to them before they headed out into the Straight of Georgia.  We were there for maybe 5 minutes when suddenly, things started to escalate.  The leaders kicked it into high gear.  They sped up and started...

It was bright and sunny as we headed north out of Friday Harbor. On this trip, the first thing we encountered was harbor seals hauled out on a rocky island. Next we spotted a few killer whale dorsal fins off in the distance. Everyone got excited as we scoped out the area. As the boat turned there was a large pod of orcas, over twenty whales close to each other surfacing and breathing. Then, all of a sudden one breached, then another next to the first one, then a third after the...

It was a beautiful trip from the beginning today!  Heading out of Friday Harbor on a wonderfully clear day we were able to get some amazing views of the snow-capped Mt. Baker.  The usual sunbatheing Harbor seals were all out in about swimming on both sides of the boat and we got a great view of a tiny harbor seal pup swimming along! Continuing on our way out we passed by a few stellar sea lions also in the water and one with a fish in it's mouth!  We rounded cattle point and headed...

As we headed south through Cattle Pass a grizzly-like head broke the surface with a large fish dangling from its mouth. The snorting and huffing creature was a male Steller sea lion, the largest of all the sea lions and the third largest species within the Pinnipedia suborder. The silhouette of another gigantic bull that had claimed his throne atop Whale Rock protruded from the outcrop.

Once traveling along San Juan Island’s west coast, the black dorsal fins of orcas appeared...

Something rare occurred today; killer whales surprised us by coming up not only next to our boat, but a couple swam under our boat! Let me start from the beginning… we left Friday Harbor heading south, stopping to see some harbor seals hauled up on rocky areas. We also went around whale rocks to see the steller sea lions that were hauled out, but not only were there some on the rocks, two giant individuals came out of the water, walking up the rocks at the same time!

We then headed...