Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

The sun was shining, the waters were calm, the guests were smiling and life couldn't have been more peachy as we departed Friday Harbor. Summer feels like it is finally approaching here in the islands. In town tourists wander the streets, hopping in and out of shops. On the water whale watch boats...Read more

It was 1:00 p.m. when Captain Mike received notice of transient orcas on the north side of Orcas Island. Just as we arrived near Clark Island, we spotted four transients traveling closely together. The guests oohed and awed each time the whales surfaced the water as they reached for a breathe of...Read more

It was a chore to find them, but I finally got to spend some time with J pod. This season is starting out slowly and the orcas are still not back in the area full-time like we are used to. That means that we spend a lot of time searching and seeing other wildlife on the way. Today though we knew...Read more

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