killer whales

Did you know that orcas, like humans are very family oriented? You have probably heard of ‘’pods before which is a word that usually describes a group of any species of whale, but in orcas especially the Southern Resident Ecotype, pods resemble large extended families. The smaller groups of orcas within these pods are referred to as matrilines. Matrilines consist of the matriarch (the oldest female) and her offspring, sometimes even several generations of offspring. This...

Guests were excited to search for killer whales as we departed Roche Harbor on the Sea Hawk. We had received reports of resident killer whales at Hannah Heights along the west side of San Juan Island. As we moved towards the whales, they also travelled south and spent most of their time at cattle point, the southernmost tip of the island. Guests were fortunate enough to see J-Pod, the beloved resident pod! The Sea Hawk stopped at the beginning of the pod and allowed it to...

We left the dock with high hopes of finding resident killer whales based on positive reports received earlier in the morning. However, as we travelled towards the reports our dedicated whale watching guests spotted two male transient killer whales off of the coast of Spieden Island on route! Guests were able to enjoy watching these exceptionally large males with their 6ft tall dorsal fins and approximate 12000lb bodies for over half an hour. After that we decided to...

Guests were skeptical as the Sea Hawk departed Roche Harbor in attempts of finding killer whales because there were no reports. However, not even 20 minutes into the trip the guests came up on a spur of the moment siting of T-124c, otherwise known as a lone transient killer whale male! Killer whale pods tend to travel as a family unit with mom and/or grandma as the leader; however, transients are also more likely to stray away from this organization, opposed to our...

As we departed Roche Harbor on the Sea Hawk, guests were hopeful of spotting orca whales. The morning reports had seemed positive, I indicating transient killer whales in Boundary Pass (the pass that divides US waters and Canadian waters). On route to the reports, we spotted a group of playful harbor porpoises. Harbor porpoises are typically timid of stopped boats, so being able to stop our boat and get up close views was very special. They typically travel in groups of 2...

So I Know that I talk a lot about how social orcas are and how they are almost always found in their family groups, but like almost everything else there are exceptions to these rules as well. Yesterday (Wednesday) Captain Gabe and I left with a pretty small group to search for some more Transient Orcas. Just around Friday Harbor we came across a pair of male Transient Orcas! This is a little bit unusual, but definitely sometimes happens, especially in the Transients...

Two young transient orcas breach at the same time right next to each other.

WOW. WOW OH WOW. I'm not even sure how to start describing today's trip. It my hands down my best trip of the season. We cruised out of Roche Harbor and immediately encountered a group of 9 transient killer whales. One adult male (T49C) seemed to be trying to start a party--or something. He was tail slapping non-stop. No one else appeared to want anything to do with it. It actually looked as if...

Transient killer whales exaggeratedly coming out of the water to breath, a behavior we often see when the whales are moving quickly.

Captain Gabe, Captain Jim and I made a quick 15-minute turn around between our first and second trip of the day. We were in a bit of a hurry due to a longer first tour, and we wanted to get out to the west side of the island so that on our second tour, we could spend as much time as possible with the orcas that were spotted there. When...

T46s in the Straight of Juan De Fuca

This morning, Captain Gabe, and Captain Jim, and Naturalist Erick, and I all took a Sierra Club charter on an M/V Sea Hawk cruise. This group was willing to do whatever it took to see whales, so they booked a 5 hour tour, as opposed to the usual 3-hour. This basically means that we're able to go farther. Whales that are "out-of-range" due to time constraints on a 3-hour, may be in range on a 5-hour because we have more time.

As...

The Sea Hawk took out an intimate tour in hopes of finding a few humpback whales; however, as we began our departure from Mosquito Pass we received reports of transient killer whales near Vancouver Island! In a sudden turn of events we headed north and began our wildlife tour. Once arriving on scene we were able to travel along side of the T’s (a pod of transient) for a considerable distance. We were able to get stunning views of the unique saddle patch on each whale and...