We celebrated our freedom this Memorial Day by searching for marine mammals that were also experiencing their freedom!

We were blessed with blue skies and glassy waters as we departed Rouche Harbor on our tour via the Sea Hawk. We left port in hopes of orcas but we ended up heading south towards Haro Straight in attempts to find a reported humpback whale. However, when we arrived on scene we discovered a beautiful and uncataloged humpback whale, a far more exciting...

With a wedding party of 35 split between M/V Sea Hawk and M/V Kittiwake, we cruised around Henry Island, Speiden Island, the Cactus Island, and John's island in search of wildlife. We were astounded with the number of Bald Eagles we spotted, an all too appropriate find for a new couple that will be together for life, just like Bald Eagles. The scientist in me however, couldn't possibly leave out the fact that Eagles will split up to find a more compatible mate for...

Transient orca calf for color and size comparison to adults.

This morning, we ventured out of Roche Harbor with a report of orcas across Haro Straight. Great, right? Wrong. Only one boat had tried to get there so far, and they were forced to turn around due to high seas. Haro is a tricky place. On some days it's like glass, and on other days, you would be crazy to try to cross it. Today started off like the latter. In the interest of the guests dry clothes and lack of...

For land animals, spring is the time for babies! But in the marine realm babies can and usually do follow different cycles. It’s still usually based on food availability for the newborns, but this doesn’t necessary match up with the normal temperate cycle of spring, summer, fall, winter. For cetaceans (aka whales) this is especially true since these intelligent animals are capable of traveling great distances between feeding grounds and breeding grounds and so are their...

The humpback whale sightings continue! This spring has yielded just incredible wildlife sightings, everything from various species of birds, to crazy numbers of cetaceans. May 26th was no exception!

I feel that one of the highlights of the spring has been the return of the humpback whales to their summer feeding grounds here in the Salish Sea. In the North Pacific humpback whales were considered to be commercially extinct by the year 1968. That means that whalers headed...

A "tiny" Lion's Mane Jelly next to the dock in Friday Harbor

The Salish Sea is not just the home to many cetacean species like the Orcas, Dall’s Porpoises, and Humpback Whales but a whole menagerie of cool creatures. If you have the opportunity to visit one of the many coastal parks on the islands I definitely recommend tide-pooling. Some great places on San Juan Island are Lime Kiln State Park, Cattle Point, and False Bay. Since we’re pretty far north up here, the tide...

This is me with Bolo, one of my favorite dogs at Lollypop Farm.

I often get asked what I do for fun, and what I do in the winter/off-season from the whales. Different naturalists and staff members do an array of different things. Last summer, while on the island, I spent a lot of time volunteering at and fostering for the Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor. This is a small, but wonderful shelter that does its best with the fundraising that its able to do here...

Salmonberry picking

Orcas swim for Salmon, I run for Salmonberries. You’ve probably heard of blackberries and raspberries but have you ever heard of a salmonberry. It might seem fishy, but it tastes like anything but. Salmonberries (Rubus spectabilis) inhabit the western coast of North America from southern Alaska down to northern California. Just like our other Rubus friends – like raspberries and blackberries - it has composite berries that are oh so sweet. Does it...

We received another misty Monday yesterday. Clouds floated low in the sky, slowly tearing away from the treetops on the islands. We headed north, and since we’re still in the shoulder season before the main schools of salmon start running through these waters we were looking mostly for Transient Orcas. Of the two ecotypes of orcas that live here one, the Residents, arrive in the summer to eat the salmon runs that occur annually. They are fish eaters and around 90% of...

Today on the M/V Sea Lion we cruised out of Friday Harbor into another sunny, brilliant, San Juan day. Today we headed south, hoping to maximize on some early reports of whale blows southwest of Cattle Pass. We crossed into a boiling current as we broke west of Cattle Point, past Whale Rocks and a couple of wary looking harbor seals. As we rounded the corner into Haro Strait it seemed the other boaters in the area had been stumped, losing track of the whales since we had...