Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

With no reports of whales our safari started by heading South out of Friday Harbor. We passed Whale Rocks and encountered Steller's Sea Lions and Harbor Seals. I am always impressed with the size of Steller's Sea Lions around 1500 pounds! Pupping season for harbor seals is mid June and I can't wait to see all the baby seals.

We also took a good long look at Goose Island on the southern tip of San Juan Island and saw the Cormorant rookery. Fishermen from China historically had used...

Today on the Sea Lion we went out North of Friday Harbor, on the way to find the orcas we saw Harbor Seals hauled out. We then found J-pod. We saw a calf, one female and one male. On the way back to Friday Harbor we encountered Stellar Sea Lions of Patos Island swimming. Everyone was amazed with just how large the Stellars were. We also saw Harbor porpoise. We discussed some of the differences between dolphins (orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family) and porpoises...

Orcas, J-pod found just south of Sinclair Island. We counted about 20 individuals and we were lucky enough to see a calf. We were able to see the orange-ish pigmentation. We were also able to identify J-1, Ruffles. They seemed to be in a sleep pattern. Orcas are voluntary breathers so they exhibit unihemispheric sleep. This sleep pattern allows 1/2 the brain sleep while the other 1/2 is awake.

Sincerely,
San Juan Safaris Naturalist
Jeannette
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our...

It was a lovely golden day on our inland waters and our boat load of guests were a real treat. Captain Pete, Ashley and I welcomed a full boat of passengers onto the MV Sea Lion, including a wee mariner just new to this beautiful world. Our destination was soon discovered to be the open waters just North of Patos Island State Marine Park. Another boat operator called out "I've made contact" over the radio waves and we knew that Orcas were soon to be seen. They even happened to be...

Sunshine and whales, is there anything else in this world like it? Captain Nancy and I had a small group with us on the MV Sea Lion today and they got the view that some of them had traveled far afield to see. Hailing from places like Philadelphia, Michigan and Malaysia, as well as good old Seattle, our passengers were treated to a lovely boat ride on calm seas to the waters just South of Point Roberts. There the whales were in their brightest white and shiniest black as they slowly...

Today was a great day for wildlife viewing. We headed south out of Friday Harbor and then just southeast of Lopez we spotted Southern Resident Killer Whales, the J-pod and they put on a great show. Captain Nancy identified Ruffles! They were breaching and tail slapping- some great pictures were taken. On the way back we spotted some bald eagles on Long Island and Stellar Sea Lions on Whale Rocks. I am always impressed with the size of the Stellar Sea Lions. The waters did get a...

Hello all,

A group of intrepid seventh graders and their chaperones were our guests on the MV Kittiwake today. The kids and adults alike were inquisitive and well rewarded for their interest. We had a good look at some Harbor Porpoises in San Juan Channel that were milling around in the swirling water, most likely feeding. There were Pigeon Guillemots galore, along with their vibrant red feet, especially on the backside of Flattop Island which is a wildlife preserve.

Bald Eagles were...

Today we saw the largest member of the dolphin family, orcas! These animals are super intelligent and beautiful. We located J-pod, 1 mile south of Cattle point heading west. We did see a calf! The whales were tail slapping and spy hopping, it was fantastic. We also placed the hydrophone in the water and could hear J-pod communicating. This is something everyone should see and hear!!! On the way back to Friday Harbor we located a bald eagle in its nest on the south side of...

When I arrived to work today, I heard word that J Pod was rumored to be in the Haro Strait. As the morning continued, Captain Craig confirmed the word that the most frequent visiting Southern Resident community pod was indeed back in the islands! Captain Craig, a group of excited guests and I departed Friday Harbor with high hopes of seeing orcas! We headed up toward Boundary Pass. As we rounded the northern side of Turn Point and headed into Canadian waters we began to see dorsal...

After hearing word of Transient Orcas up north, we left Friday Harbor in a hurry to try to view some of the marine mammal eating Orcas that sometimes frequent the San Juan Islands. We headed quickly their way, only to hear they started heading further north (out of our range). Then, we sped north again, having heard they were headed back our direction. Luck wasn't on our side and once more they turned and were out of our range. Luckily, the islands have wildlife abound!

The guests...