Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

With the sun shining and the water sparkling, Captain Nancy, the other naturalist Tristen, a group of (as always) enthusiastic and eager guests, and I took off from Friday Harbor with the hopes of meeting up with J pod. To the excitement of guests, naturalists, and captains alike, J pod (the most resident pod [pod = family unit] from the Southern Resident Community) has been in the area almost every day for the past couple weeks. Captain Nancy heard word that the group was moving...

After a few days off the water, I was antsy to get my share of the J Pod viewing action. Luckily, J Pod decided to appease my desires and we left Friday Harbor with a group of excited guests to catch up with the whales (well, dolphins - technically) on the west side of the San Juan Island.

After viewing some harbor seals hauled out (as usual) on some rocks, we arrived on scene, with the whales spread out heading in the direction of Port Angeles. Captain Nancy followed next to a group...

Our adventure startedby heading North out of Friday Harbor. We found the orca whales about 5 miles North of Patos Island heading and they were headed north.

Members of J and K pods were there. We identified J-1 "Ruffles". We were also lucky enough to see one individual back dive about 4 times in a row. One of our guests got a great picture. Hope she emails it to us (Fun@SanJuanSafaris.com)

On our ride back we made a quick stop around Yellow Island to see some Harbor Seals...

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...