Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

This is a week of firsts, I am telling you. Today we were treated to another rare sighting and that was a Humpback Whale. Even the captain said she has not seen one of these in the waters directly around San Juan Island in two years. The whale did not seem to realize the frenzy that it was causing with the wildlife watching companies. Clearly it was just there to eat and not be a media star. Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I fell under the whale's spell just like all of our guests on the...

Wow! After three days off what a comeback. I showed up at the office this morning to news of Orcas in the area, but they were different from those that we had been seeing. The excitement was palpable as our group of 25 guests, along with Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I motored out into the great unknown. Would the whales stay in an area where we could see them, would there be as many as were reported, would Capt. Nancy remember Jeanette's name today? It was all a mystery and we...

Southern Resident Killer Whales on the west side of San Juan Island. We identified members of L-pod, one of the three pods of the southern resident killer whales. We first saw some members of L-pod just south of Lime Kiln State Park heading North. Just as we decided to make a trip around San Juan Island following the orcas, they changed their direction and began heading South. We quickly changed our direction and began heading south as well. We watched as the orcas traveled and even...

Another interesting day on the water....the same two K-pod members, mama K-20 and 5 year old calf K-38 were on the move and at quite a clip! We caught up with these 2 resident Orcas in Canadian waters off the Gulf Islands. They definitely covered some ground (or should i say sea)...since yesterday when we saw them in the Strait of Juan de Fuca east of Port Angeles. Our guests really did enjoy the serenity of watching the whales surface while listening as they breathed! We turned...

On our Saturday trip we were delighted to finally see a couple members of the Southern Resident Community back around the San Juan Islands! Strangely, however, it was just K20, Spock, and her offspring, K38, Comet.K Pod members are rarely seen travelling for so long without the rest of their pod. So, today when we yet again saw K20 & K38 travelling as a duo, people are left scratching their heads as to the whereabouts of the rest of K Pod. Luckily, though, seeing orcas is always awesome and we...

What a wonderful welcome home! With it just being my 2nd day back in the islands, I and the other guests aboard the MV Sea Lion were welcomed with great views of a couple of Orca whales, harbor seals and soaring eagles!
We spent the afternoon cruising north from Friday Harbor, straight shooting it for the Canadian waters off of Saturna Island, British Columbia to catch-up with a few members of K-pod. (K-pod being one of the three local resident pods of Orcas.) With the incoming...

We watched a gray whale just offshore of Whidbey Island near the Naval Air Force Base.
We watched as the whale would blow 3 to 6 times and then take a dive for a couple of minutes.
Everyone loved the heart shaped spray that the exhale makes from gray whales.
I really find it interesting that gray whales feed on benthic crustaceans in sediment.

We then headed Northwest of Smith Island and looked for a minke whale that had been seen. Some of the guests got a great view of the small...

The reports of Orcas are starting to roll in, but they are still too far West for us to get to them. Our Gray Whale friend, whom I have dubbed Clyde the glide, was possibly still in the waters near the naval air station, but our stalwart group clamored for something out of the ordinary. So South we headed, but for Hein Bank instead of Whidbey Island.

Our own parrot owning Capt. Craig toured us through breathtakingly calm waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca where there were...

What a day to see gray. A whale that is. As our balmy (82 degrees F, 28% humidity) weather continues here in the San Juan Islands we took to the seas to find cool breezes and cool animals. True to our Pacific Northwest abundance we were not disappointed. Craig expertly captained the MV Sea Lion while Jeanette and I performed for the crowd. Our boisterous group of guests, along with Junior Mariners, were super wildlife spotters and found lots of things for everyone to see.

The waters...

Gray whale today near Whitbey Island Naval Base.

These whales have a streamlined body with a narrow, tapered head. Gray whales are always great to watch. We observed the whale foraging. We even saw the whales fluke.

Gray whales are bottom sediment feeders. The whale exhibited the predictable breathing pattern. Gray whales are a mysticete or baleen whale and have two blow holes.

Sometimes you can see a heart or v-shaped spray shape. This is really cool... We also got to see some harbor...