san juan island

We are getting spoiled with these early season trips here on San Juan Island! Yesterday was one of those magical trips that we have spent all winter dreaming about. Captain Mike and I left Friday Harbor with a lively private charter group on the search for some wildlife! As it is still early season for seeing killer whales, I was cautiously optimistic on our chances of seeing whales, but thought if we did see orcas that they would most likely be some of our local Bigg’s...

Happy first day of spring! Captain Mike and I had the pleasure of taking out Whale Watch and Wildlife Charter today for the first day of spring.  With early rumors of whales, we were all hopeful for a sighting.  Captain Mike, communicating with other member of the PWWA was able to track down J Pod off the west side of San Juan Island, in Haro Strait, near Vancouver Island.  It was a beautiful calm day on the water and we were able to get many great looks at the group of...

Cruising in the San Juan Islands is a treat any time of the year, but it is those special clear sunny days in the spring and fall that make my heart sing. Yesterday we enjoyed a gorgeous early spring day viewing numerous bald eagles, harbor seals, porpoises, and Steller’s sea lions. We also had the chance to view some new baby mouflon sheep on the slopes of Spieden Island. Take a look below!

Harbor seals on a rock in the San Juan Islands

First mouflon lambs of the...

Individual orcas can be distinguished from one another by looking at preexisting  markings on their bodies. Though whales can be told apart by the markings on their cheeks or their eypatches, we primarily look at the saddlepatch, the grey marking behind the dorsal fin. Once those markings are recorded via photograph, alphanumeric (Letter-Number) codes are assigned to individuals. We have two populations of orcas in our waters, Residents, salmon-eaters, and Transients...

Yesterday we were greeted by the happy news that there is yet another new calf in the endangered Southern Resident community of orcas, and the sixth born into the familial grouping known as J Pod.

NOAA scientists observed a new calf travelling between J14 Samish and J37 Hy’Shqa on in the last few days and confirmed the sighting yesterday. Right now there is no confirmation on which female is the mother, but that is not unusual as all females within a family will take an...

Yesterday the M/V Sea Lion headed out on the water for a private charter. I love being a part of hosting these private events, as we can totally taylor the trip for whatever the groups are most interested in. Yesterday our group wanted to find as much wildlife as we possibly could, and wildlife we found! We left Friday Harbor and motored north. At Spieden Island we encountered a lively group of Steller's sea lions, and a number of bald eagles. As we headed further north...

Yesterday Capt. Gave and I did not have very far to go. The breeze was cool and the sun, hot. We headed north to search for our illustrious friends, the southern residents. You know the ones with funny accents, wave at everybody, and drink a lot of sweet tea, you know those folks. Not really these southern residents only eat fish. And we first spotted them right north of Battleship Island outside of Roche Harbor! Sooo close right!?! It was a family of L pod! Which is...

Captain Jim and I left Roche Harbor with reports of whales South off San Juan Island. The Seahawk slipped out Mosquito Pass and into the Haro and we were off into a beautiful day on the water. By the time we hit False Bay we'd caught up to a group of Resident Killer Whales milling a mile offshore.

Some groups of Residents we see on a regular basis as Naturalists, and some we don't see all that often. Myself, I have less experience with L Pod and find it a run challenge...

Today Captain Gabe and I had quite the experience on the ol' Hawk.

We boarded an excited crowd in Roche Harbor, and we were eager ourselves to get out and see some of the incredible wildlife that the San Juan Islands have to offer. Earlier in the day, we watched as the Southern Resident Killer Whales headed North to feed on salmon in the Fraser River and were now out of our range. However, Captain Gabe had another trick up his sleeve: Transients.

Unlike their fish-eating...

What an incredible afternoon with K Pod! The Seahawk left Roche Harbor with positive reports of our Southern Resident killer whales. On our way to the whales we headed north out of Roche Harbor towards Battleship Island. As we rounded the north side of Henry Island we got some awesome views of both the amazing diving cormorants (medium-sized black birds with long necks , who nest on the cliffs at Kellett Bluff) as well as some beautiful bald eagles in our area. Bald...