San Juan Island Adventures

Hello summer! Yes folks, it is officially summer time on San Juan Island. Today, myself and Taylor (reservation staff) and Chris (one of the dock masters!) are holding down the desk and dock at our Roche Harbor location and it is sunny and 75 degrees. One of our guides, Don, said it was so hot he would melt!

We had a very busy weekend. At one point, we had four different multi-day trips out on the water! Our multi-day adventures involve packing up our double and triple...

We had an all around amazing day on the water. Our Whale Watch boat, the Sea Hawk with Naturalist Kevin and Captain Nancy saw members of our Southern Resident Orca population near Boundary Pass. There was another group of whales that came in from the south and were milling around south of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse.

The true highlight of our day, however, were the cute and curious harbor seals we commonly see in this area. We do have a year-round population of about 4000...

Lots of new updates! Today, we have confirmed reports of over 70 Southern Resident Orcas in addition to the Transient Orcas we have been seeing this last week.

Currently, our whale watch vessel, the Sea Hawk (with Naturalist Kevin and Captain Brian) is observing all of J Pod heading south along the west side of San Juan Island. For those of you who are not familiar with the summer travel patterns of the fish-eating Southern Resident Orca population, the west side of San...

J-pod was observed on the west side of San Juan Island in the past half hour. They were first spotted (most recently) on Saturday in the strait of Juan de Fuca eastbound (towards the San Juan Islands). Hopefully this means they are around for the spring/early summer now.
For those who are familiar with the Lime Kiln hydrophone, apparently vocalizations have been heard today.

Transient Killer Whales Spotted again this afternoon on the west side of San Juan Island! This will be 8 days in a row transients have been sited in the area.

A quick blog to update our guests on whale sightings. We've been out on the water quite a bit recently and have seen whales 3 of the last 4 trips, which is a very good streak in April, especially considering our Resident Killer Whales have not been around in over a month. This means our sightings have been with Transient Killer Whales. For those new to the distinction between the two types: Our Resident Killer Whales primarily eat salmon, while Transient Killer Whales...

Many photos were taken recently of the Killer Whales spotted in Admiralty Inlet over the weekend. Almost all of J-pod were spotted, as well as L-87 who has been traveling with J-pod quite a bit the past couple years. Unfortunately the whale missing this weekend was J-1, and it's been confirmed by the Center for Whale Research founder Ken Balcomb that he has not been seen since November. For those who are new to the life cycle, family and social structure of the...

Along with J-pod sightings yesterday in Admiralty Inlet, more sightings along the California coast are probably parts of L-pod, which were confirmed in Monterey by Ken Balcomb last week. For those who are not familiar, it's believed that this region is part of their normal winter range.

Killer Whale sightings continue to occur in the San Juan Islands and outlying areas. After having gone without sightings for a few days, J-pod (and L-87) were once again spotted in Admiralty inlet. If their pattern holds, Whidbey Island and Seattle residents may be treated to whale sightings along public beaches and parks. Keep your eyes open as you travel to and from home today along the water.

Very exciting news reported by Orca Network. L-pod was recently spotted off Monterey Bay (February 10th), and then spotted later off San Francisco. Local San Juan Island researchers were present to get a positive identification. For those who are not familiar, this region is now considered part of L-pod's normal winter range, and the river systems and coastline play a critical role in their winter habitat. More information can be found at Orca Network for those who...