Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

What a day for whale watching. Today was one of those days that we dream about here at San Juan Safaris. The waters were calm and the sun warmed our faces as we watched individuals from J and K Pods swim along the southern and western sides of the island. Our group of guests joined Capt. Pete, Jeanette and myself on the MV Sea Lion from all over the world for a beautiful time on the water. In Cattle Pass Capt. Pete stopped the boat so that we could all see and feel the...

Today was a beautiful day, we had sunshine and smooth water. We took a trip around the South side of Spieden Island. Bald Eagles were out flying, some very nice lady's got some amazing pictures of two bald eagles flying together. One lady even got a great picture of a bald eagle in its nest. We then ventured through John's Pass, this is always a beautiful trip. We then got news of J-pod near Turn Point of Stuart Island. We found them and watched as they traveled through the Har...

The MV Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor washed with sunlight, ready to chug on up to Canada to try to catch up with J Pod. Our first report was that J Pod was up by Point Roberts headed south. The boat caught up with J Pod members north of East Point on Saturna Island. It was off of East Point that the first whale to be placed successfully into capitivity was captured. In 1964, Samuel Burich, a sculptor, was hired to kill a killer whale to use as a model for a life size killer whale...

Having heard an early morning report that J Pod was milling around the False Bay area, I left the office this morning giddy to get aboard the MV Sealion. The clouds in the sky may have dampened San Juan Island, but they sure weren't dampening our spirits! After coming through Cattle Pass, passing by False Bay and reaching Lime Kiln State Park, we started to see dorsal fins. We travelled slowly on scene because the orcas were spread out all over the place.

As we sat in placed and...

It is good to live in the islands these days. Capt. Pete, Nan and I welcomed a diverse and friendly group onto the MV Sea Lion today and we were able to show them the islands in all of their glory. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the water was calming. The Orcas seemed to have moved off to parts unknown overnight, but that did not stop our guests from spotting some great wildlife.

There were more Harbor Seals than you could shake a stick at and we saw almost every color pattern...

Boy, did we have a great day out on the water today! A boatload of guests, Captain Pete, naturalist Tristen, and I departed Friday Harbor with the sun glistening on our faces. The weather today was warmer than the past few days, it is really starting to feel like summer is coming to the islands. Captain Pete had heard that J Pod was up by Point Roberts in Canada - so northward we went!

As we cruised up toward Canada we pasted many, many harbor porpoises porpoising (because the...

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...