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It was a really lovely day out on the water.  The sun came out, misty whiffs of clouds hovered above the islands, and the orcas were everywhere.  We circumnavigated San Juan Island, first heading south and then north up the west side.  San Juan Island is the second largest, 55 square miles, of the county.  Our first orca sighting was about 2 miles offshore from False Bay.  Two large males surfaced for air, making a surprisingly loud "whuff" was they exhaled.  We continued north to...

San Juan Safaris

I did the 'Whale Plane' from Lake Union Seattle. Forty five minutes on a fantastic small sea plane, with wonderful views. Went on smaller boat from San Juan safaris with only 12 on board. We left early as we were all on board to give us the best chance of seeing the orcas.We roared off very fast, which was very exciting. The naturalist aboard was very friendly and...

Our summer is coming to a close and with it comes a little bit more rain. We have our occasional rainy day now where as mid summer we went a full 38 days with no rain. Today was one of those days but the whales definitely don't care. Reports of J pod were coming from the west side of san juan. We had some adventurous passengers with us today who also didn't mind the rain and some even braved the rain on the bow of the boat. Before making it to the whales we stopped to observe a...

Another great day with the J-pod!  The whales were spread out along the south end of  Saturna Island.  We identified J1, J2, and J26.  Captain Mike turned off the boat and we peacefully swayed in the slow rolling waves of this protected inland sea.  Three whales were displaying foraging behavior as they quickly changed direction in a small circle.  As if that wasn't entertaining enough, the whales started breaching!  We saw one whale breach at least 5 times in a row! As always...

"Ruffles" and "Granny". Photo courtesy of Sandy Buckley

The San Juan Islands are famous as the setting for the Pig War and for their orcas.  Of those famous orcas, two are the most sought-after by visitors for sightings and as photo subjects.  They are J1 and J2, also known as "Granny" and "Ruffles".  They are the oldest members of their respective sexes in the Southern Resident population and our most well-known orcas.  Granny is estimated to be 99 years old, and Ruffles, who...

Being on the water six days a week pretty much guarantees that a person is going to see all things imaginable when it comes to these orcas.  That, of course, in no way diminishes my excitement in seeing them each and every time.  They are beautiful and sleek and amazing and unpredictable.  Despite the regulations that govern boating around these animals, sometimes mistakes happen and boats get caught out with an orca too close.  Eventually the odds are going to turn on you, since...

Today we ventured to Active Pass in Canada to admire those beautiful black and white creatures known as Orcas.
It is not very often we have to travel this far to see them. Thanks to the gorgeous weather, our guests definitely did not mind the boat ride. The longer boat rides are often very nice because we get the opportunity to know the guests on board a little better and delve into deeper subjects relating to the Orca population. Also we get to see many of the islands along the way and talk...

With the orcas being able to swim 30-35 mph and covering 100 miles in a day, it is easy to see how they can become "lost" from one day to the next.  And with the Salish Sea being such a large body of water, how is it that the whale watching companies ever find what they are looking for?  Since we do not use bait sites, spotting planes or boats, and none of the animals we see are animatronic, we must be using some other means of detection.  Sonar?  Nope.  Fish finder?  Only works if...

We often have people ask us about whether the orcas wear tags and if that is how we know where they are.  Since the Southern Residents are listed as an endangered species, researchers are not given permission to attach tags to them.  The same logic that discourages the use of tags is the same safety-based thinking that prohibits taking skin or blood

White dot on dorsal fin is satellite tag. Photo courtesy of Cascadia Research

samples from the resident orcas, thereby limiting the...

When it comes to orca mating, researchers do not know how the pairs are established.  Mating is indiscriminate, meaning that males and females do not stay together.  Females raise the calf with their family and the males help to raise their siblings, cousins, etc.  It has even been theorized that the matriarch has some say in who will pair with whom and when.  Talk about a nosy in-law.

If the matriarchs do not condone, or even establish, when the mating will take place, and we know...