Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

It was a long trip today, but well worth it. A small group of guests joined us on the M/V Sea Lion and enjoyed a tour of Orcas Island and the State Marine Parks to the north as we motored to Birch Bay near Blaine, Washington. That is the farthest northeast that either Jaclyn or I have been and it is always fun to find some new water.

Of course, it is all home to our resident orcas and they were cruising through life today near the Canadian border. The groups were small and spread out...

Luckily, we did not have to look too far today, although the orcas were being a bit cagey. Capt. Craig took us out of Friday Harbor at an exaggeratedly slow speed, because the Coast Guard had sent out a radio warning about a submerged house boat that was adrift in San Juan Channel. How something can be submerged and adrift I do not know, but we were on the lookout for it. That was just the distraction that we needed though. We were nearly to Turn Island and we had not gotten up to speed yet when...

Yesterday's trip....I just have to blog about this one! It was a warm, sunny September Sunday. The Resident Killer Whales (or Orcas) were moving south from Rosario Strait around Lopez Island. We came through Cattle Pass and were ahead of the Orcas, so we positioned ourselves offshore of the whales so we could parallel them in Haro Strait off the south end of San Juan Island. A tight group in the lead, maybe 6 to 8 Orcas including J1 (Ruffles). Love that big guy! Then a single Or...

Once again we turned our bow towards Victoria and Canada today. The orcas, J pod to be exact, were at the Victoria Harbor heading east in a resting pattern. Capt. Craig tried to give them some time to swim to us by stopping to view other wildlife, but the orcas were swimming too slowly and we needed to be making better time. So he jumped on the throttle and away we flew along the south end of San Juan Island and across Haro Strait. There were a few minutes of indecision when an...

It would be easier for me to list the animals that we did not see today, rather than to list the ones that we did. I think that the only sightings that we did not log were of the Titanic and the Loch Ness Monster. Jaclyn and I could hardly contain our excitement, which is to say that we completely abandoned all trappings of professionalism to run around the boat screaming, every time we saw something new. Capt. Craig insured that we saw all that we could today by monitoring the...

It was a whalestravaganza today on the water. Orcas from the north, orcas from the south and us in the middle of it all. East Point on Saturna Island was the meeting spot and the Strait of Georgia was the playground. I was hoping that we would see all of the whales get together, but I did not think that it would actually happen. It did though and Capt. Pete, Kathy and I were there on the M/V Sea Lion to see it. Our guests saw it too, so it was a stunning day all the way around.

After what appeared to be the start of fall and winter, we are now back to the September weather that we are all so fond of. September really is the best month to see the islands and today was a perfect example of that.

I welcomed a lovely group of guests onto the M/V Kittiwake this afternoon and we headed off on our tour. The orcas were at the south end and west side of San Juan Island today, so it was difficult to decide where to go. Capt. Bill did a fabulous job though, and after...

Leave it to wild animals to continually throw our conventional predictions about their behavior for a loop. Often I've heard myself and other naturalist speak of how the orcas "rarely pass through the San Juan Channel and prefer to travel and fish in the straits, like the Haro Strait." Well, the orcas have made me rethink this statement, at least for this summer. The orcas passing by Friday Harbor has become merely uncommon, and now no longer all that rare.

Today, for the third time...

Abundant wildlife in the area....but where are the whales? A question we were all asking today. With captains scouting the seas around the San Juans near and far and no sign of our Resident Orcas, we decided to give it a try to the south.

Dozens of Harbor Seals and around 10 male Stellar Sea Lions were hanging at Whale Rocks today. A few Stellars were splashing around waving their flippers while swimming through the kelp beds.

A couple of very active groups of birds swarming...

Well well well...today is more like the weather we expect for this time of year! After that little stormy spell the last 2 days we are back to calm seas and clearing skies.

On our 1pm tour today we saw a nice group of big, golden, Stellar Sea Lions both hauled out and swimming in the water just off Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. Then around the south end up towards False Bay to meet the Resident Orcas who were spread out and moving rapidly north. This morning the Orcas were spotted in...