transient orcas

Captain Nancy, myself and guests travelled all the way to Active Pass in order to see Orcas! In order to get to Active Pass, M/V Sea Hawk motored through Haro Strait and Swanson Channel. Active Pass is located in the Canadian Gulf Islands and is the passage way between Mayne Island and Galiano Island. This passage way is relatively narrow and can have very turbulent water, which our guests did get to experience! The Orcas that were in Active Pass were Transients and it...

Today we left Roche Harbor at 11:00 with reports of transient orcas in Canadian waters.  We went through John's Pass on the way to the reports of the whales and got a beautiful scenic view of the San Juans.  We got to the area were the transient family was hunting and enjoyed watching them hunt and even make a few kills!  It is always enjoyable to see this animals at their most active hunting state.  We even got to see some surface behaviors including porpoising and even...

With impending rain, Captain Mike steered the M/V Sea Lion north with Naturalists Heather and Emily, and guests in tow.  The goal: transient killer whales off North Pender Island in Canada.  A little Northwest rain did not dampen any spirits on board and before we knew it we were rewarded with great views of 7 transient orcas traveling southeast in Swanson Channel.  T137 and her offspring T137A, T137B, and T137D were traveling with T36A and her two offspring T36A-1...

Both resident (fish eating) and transient (mammal eating) killer whales, also known as orca whales, live in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands. The Salish Sea is home to a huge amount of biodiversity, allowing animals large and small to thrive. There is a lot of research being conducted on the whales, and one way scientists gather information is by recording underwater acoustics using hydrophones. This allows data on whales to be collected even when they...

Captain Brian just reported back from today's whale watch trip this afternoon, and he described it as "one of his Top 3 wildlife encounters- ever!" The boat left Roche Harbor and headed out in search of the transient Orcas that were in the area. Upon arriving they saw harbor porpoises "everywhere" and Brian and Kendall were on the alert and watching the hunting transient whales. Suddenly both transients dived down and disappeared. Everyone was scanning the waters...

Well what a day! Noelle and Captain Nancy headed out for a whale watch tour yesterday with sunny skies ahead. Transients were in the area, and Noelle was pleased to report back great views of some extremely active orcas. "Transient" means these killer whales (orcas) have a large home range and often pass through the Puget Sound. These whales have been spotted as far south as Monterey Bay, CA where they prey on gray whales resuming their long migration north. When...

San Juan Island Whale Watch report from Saturday, April 11th:

The predicted rain held off for us, and Captain Brian P. and I headed out into the sunshine as we left San Juan Island in hopes of whales. Reports of whales off the Saanich area of Vancouver Island held true for us, and as we came close to shore we sighted them. At first it looked like a small group of two individuals, but as we drew closer we could identify two adult whales and one small calf! The...