Orca Whales

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...

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...

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...

Today Captain Gabe and I left the dock on the Seahawk with a boat full of excited passengers and reports of whales. I was particularly excited because I have been off the water and away from the wonders of the ocean for a few days. As we motored through mosquito pass under the hazy sky, we began to rack up the wildlife sightings with a great blue heron lazily flapping by and some playful river otters fearlessly running around on some rocks.

We didn't have long to wait...

Today Captain Gabe and I left the dock with warm weather, calm seas, a boat full of excited passengers and best of all, Whale Reports!! We headed North off the dock to find some wildlife. As we exited Mosquito Pass, we spotted a small pod of harbor porpoise so we decided to watch them slip in and out of the calm water. Harbor porpoise are the smallest cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises) found in the Salish Sea, and were at one point the most abundant. They spend...

Today Captain Gabe and I had a wonderful day aboard the M/V Seahawk cruising down the west side of San Juan Island. The water was gorgeous and smooth, and it was one of our first warm days out on the water. I was happily wrapped in a fleece while cruising, but while sitting watching the whales the sun was just perfection! We spent plenty of time with some of the J16 matriline, including one of my favorite whales J26 Mike. J26 Mike is a full grown male killer whale, so he...

Today Captain Pete and I left the dock on the Seahawk with a glorious sunny day, a boat full of curious and excited passengers, and plenty of whale reports from which to choose. Armed with our whale knowledge and eagerness to see wildlife, we headed North out of Roche Harbor. Right off the bat we were greeted in Mosquito Pass with a great blue heron taking off with its large, slow wingbeats as well as a bald eagle perched in a tree.

Heading out into Haro Strait towards...

Today Captain Gabe, Brian and myself took out the Seahawk with a boat full of excited passengers and a clear blue sky looking for wildlife. We had no reports of whales when we left the dock so we began to head north to see what we could find when left to our own devices. Up near Spieden Island we encountered maybe 40 or 50 harbor seals both hauled out on an exposed reef as well as swimming around in the water. One inportant way to differentiate seals from sinilar animals...

Today Captain Pete and I took an excellent group out on the Sea Hawk to look for wildlife. We had heard that there was some Killer Whale action East of Orcas Island in Rosario Strait, so we began our long luxurious cruise in between Orcas and Shaw/Lopez. Along the way we saw plenty of Harbor Seals and bald eagles until in the distance we began to see lots of puffs of air and black dorsal fins sneaking out of the water.

We came up on about half of J Pod as they were...

Today Captain Jim and Naturalist Mike boarded the M/V/ Sea Hawk with a boat full of happy people: some celebrating a wedding, some on a honeymoon and some celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary! We love going out with happy people, and they were about to become much happier as we broke the news to them that we had reports of J Pod, part of the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, heading our way!

We left the dock heading North out of Roche Harbor and didn't spend...