Whale Watch

Six new births within the Southern Resident Orcas brings the total number to 88. That's quite a rise from the previous few years, and scientists are eagerly awaiting more research to determine whether this rise will continue, or if it is a fluke. More detailed information can be found at either www.orcanetwork.org or www.whalemuseum.org.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of the newest calf born right around New Year's Day!

Photo by Jeff Hogan - NOAA permit #781182400...

Captain Nancy and naturalist Margo just returned from a very happy whale watch tour. They reported seeing a very spread out group of southern resident orca whales-- specifically, J pod. They saw a few breaches, pedunkle throws (cartwheel-like behaviors) and lots more activity. Margo says she got some great looks at siblings Blackberry (J-27), Mako (J-39) and Tsuchi (J-31)!

The weather is beautiful down here in the harbor, and it was a great trip for all on board...

On our 11am Whale Watch tour out of Roche Harbor, our naturalist Kevin reported not only seeing some members of L-Pod but also being fortunate enough to see the newest addition, L-112 born to L-86. L-112 was extremely playful at the surface of the water, rolling around and as well as breaching (leaping out of the water). It was very exciting to see such a small Orca exhibiting so much exuberance!

Orca calves are born after a 17 month gestation period and on...

Whales Again!!! On our second Whale Watch tour for the day, Captain Brian, reported seeing our resident K-Pod. There are two types of killer whales seen our waters: Transients and Residents Orca whales. Transients diets consist of marine mammals while the residents are fish eating Orcas.

It was quite a show with lots of spy hopping, a behavior in which the Orca comes straight out of the water with its eyes above the surface before dropping back down.

Another...

Our Captain Brian returned from our 11am Whale Watch out of Roche Harbor with a report an uncommon sighting of Transient whales. They saw the very large male T-102, as well as T-100 and T-90. Transient are the marine mammal eating whales that you see on the Discovery Channel. Although they do frequent the San Juan Islands, their sporadic movements and elusive behavior make them a rare sighting. They were spotted near Halibut Island near Kelp Reef on the...

What a day!!! Brian, the captain of the Seahawk, reported that both of our whale watch tours were able to see the orcas in K-Pod and L-87. K-Pod is one of the three pods of the southern community orcas and is one of the pods that we frequently see on our tours.

What a fantastic day to be out on the water!

Today our 1:00pm Whale Watch boat out of Roche Harbor caught up with Killer Whales (Orca Whales) coming from the Straits of Juan De Fuca. We felt lucky considering earlier in the morning the whales were far away. It was a great showing and all on board had a wonderful time.

Yesterday Captain Brian and naturalist Kevin traveled quite a ways to see killer whales. The past few days we've had the whales in our backyards, but for this trip the boat had to catch up with them on their northbound journey. Although it was a long ride, everyone on the boat was pleased to have had the chance to see these magnificent creatures in the wild.

Joe was pleased to report back that he spotted whales (for the third time this week!) during his 3 hour sea kayak tour departing from Roche Harbor. Although he and his guests had to contend with a strong running tide and a brisk wind, everyone was delighted to glimpse those large critters.

This past week has been full of fantastic wildlife sightings-- from new seal pups to killer whales just feet away. Between our whale watch tours and our hourly, daily and multi...

Captain Nancy and Kevin certainly had the whale watch of their lives today, and some of our staff were along for the ride.

They headed north to catch up with a large group of resident killer whales from K and L pods. Just as they arrived on scene, the whales began to breach, (thrusting their whole bodies out of the water and coming down with a big splash) and just kept on breaching! Guide Noelle said she stopped counting after 20 or so times, and that was in just...