Whale Watching Reports from Island Adventures Whale Watching Tours in the San Juan Islands

Sunset Feeding Frenzy

Tight Quarters (3 Gray Whales)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Second Look (Harbor Seal)
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Dinner Bell (Pigeon Guillemots)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"There's not a better way to spend an end of a beautiful day but out on the water with whales!! As we prepared our guests for boarding the Island Explorer 3 an Osprey landed on a nearby piling with dinner clutched between its talons (see Naturalist Jami Nagel's photo in the previous entry of the whale report)!! The wildlife adventure really begins at the dock which is teaming with a multitude of birds and Harbor Seals. As we departed the marina we were greeted not only by a pair of California Sea Lions but also a stream of incoming pleasure boats returning from their time on the water. Their smiles only eluded to what was in store for us!! Just east of Gedney Island is where we found 4 Gray Whales!! One would have thought we were boating on a lake rather than in the Puget Sound with the glass calm water!! The whales (#49, #22, #383 and an unidentified whale) swam together under a backdrop of the Cascade Mountain Range still capped with snow. After a great visit with the whales we departed heading towards Camano Island. On the way a few very shy Harbor Porpoise made their presence known to a handful of those on board, while Harbor Seals cruised the waters presumably looking for dinner. At Camano Island we found both Bald Eagles near the nest. One was actually perched just above the nest providing a scale upon which to size up the nest!! On average a Bald Eagle's nest is 8 feet across, 4 feet wide and weighs about 1 ton, but when you are a 3 foot bird with a wingspan over 6 feet you need the space!! Leaving the Eagles we returned to the four Gray Whales close to where we left them. The whales had changed behaviors and were now feeding in the shallow waters on Ghost Shrimp!! A chorus of Western Grebes croaked as the whales exposed partial flukes (tails) and pectoral fins!! Our evening was filled with an awe invoking feeding frenzy by 4 very hungry Gray Whales, a large raft of Surf Scoters enjoying the whales "leftovers", a pair of fishing Marbled Murrelets, and a flyby from a group of Pigeon Guillemots!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

4 Grays!!!

"Today was definitely a spring day! We weren't off the dock more than 15 mins. before we saw our first blow! Our passengers first glimpse at a gray whale was Patch, #49. He was feeding just SE of Hat Island in a shallow area. While watching Patch we notice 2 more whales toward the river delta feeding in the shallows. One of these whales was #22. They feed in such shallow water that as they went down to feed one of their pectoral flippers and half their flukes were above the surface. We headed out to Camano head and check on the mated pair of bald eagles watching over their nest. We had several harbor seals and a California sea lion checking us out as we watched the eagles. We headed back toward Everett where we encountered Patch with a fourth whale and than also the other 2 feeding again in the shallow. We also encountered a raft of about 300 western grebes, numerous rafts of surf scoters, cormorants, rhinoceros auklets and pigeon guillemots."-Naturalist Jami Nagel

Gray Whale Spyhops 7 Times!!!

Gray Whale Boat Watching (GW #383)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Showing off His Best Side (GW #383)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"Our guests started their day dockside watching Norman, our friendly Harbor Seal, showing off his catch of the day!! We had no idea what the day had in store for us!! We departed from the dock slowing down for some great looks at a nesting Osprey, perched Bald Eagles on Jetty Island, hauled-out California Sea Lions, and flyby's from Pigeon Guillemots! Moments out of the marina we had our first two Gray Whales!! Patch, #49, and his comrade #21 gave our guests some great views as we enjoyed these giants in the warmth of the sunshine on glass calm water!! Shortly after we spotted another whale just south of Gedney Island. Gray Whale #383, hands down stole the show!! Feeding on a shallow watery shelf on the south end of the island we decided to again try out the soft sounds of Jack Johnson as part of our continued musical experiment!! And did it work!! He spyhopped 7 times, bringing his face out of the water in order to check out what was going on at the surface!!! The remainder of the trip was spent on a surreal Gray Whale high as we found 2 more whales, enjoyed more fluking, listened to the sound of their exhalation, visited with a raft of 30+ Surf Scoters & 500+ Western Grebes!!! We also saw before returning to the dock Red-necked Grebes, Rhinoceros Auklets, Brandt's Cormorants, and Harbor Seals!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

Jack Johnson's Biggest Fans!!

Two Gray Whales Drawn to the Music

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"Today's blue skies brought all member's of our welcoming committee out!! Both Norman, the Harbor Seal, and our Mallard friends made an appearance dockside prior to our departure!! Just south of Gedney Island Captain Carl found what appeared to be a lone porpoise! This individual gave us some looks before disappearing towards two Gray Whales!! Patch, #49, was enjoying the company of # 383 as they fed off the south end of Gedney Island. We watched as they zigged and zagged along the shelf feeding on ghost shrimp! It wasn't long before they began moving northward towards two more whales!!! At one point #22 appeared out of the watery depths just a few feet away from 4 Surf Scoters!! The birds continued on their way not seeming to notice or rather mind the arrival of the graceful giant!! Later in our journey after visiting with Bald Eagles, Western Grebes, California Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, and Rhinoceros Auklets we caught up with the 4 Gray Whales right where we left them! Knowing that some species of whales become rather inquisitive when music is played, we decided to perform our own musical experiment! Just as Jack Johnson's voice came through the speakers the two whales began swimming towards us!! With our engines already off we just sat back and enjoyed the company of apparently Jack Johnson's biggest fans!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

Blue Water Reflected Blue Skies!

"We were all-stars today!! Our adventure started as we pulled off the dock. Our guests were treated to an Osprey flying back to its nest on top of a piling just off Jetty Island. Moments later clinging to the concrete pilings Sea Stars were exposed due to the low tide! Then just before heading into open water two California Sea Lions saw us out of the marina as we passed by channel marker #3; showing us that channel markers can be comfortable too!! Our first 3 Gray Whales were found off the eastern side of Gedney Island. The first, believed to be Patch #49, passed by us heading back towards Everett as we made our way to visit with #22 & #383. These two showed us an array of behavior from resting to feeding! We had some great views of fluking on the mirror calm water. The stillness allowed the sound of their exhalations to carry clearly across the water. After spending time getting acquainted with Gray Whales we headed towards our favorite Eagle nest on Camano Island, but we found a fourth whale!!! This individual wanted to remain anonymous while showing off the Gray Whales ability to stay under the water for 10 or even 12 minutes!! We made it to the nest and happily found an Eagle incubating its eggs!! Before long it was time to make our way back to the dock and low and behold #49 was south of Gedney Island; reaffirming our suspicions of our earlier sighting! It wan an amazing day with 4 Gray Whales, California Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Bonaparte's Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, Bald Eagles, Sea Stars, Osprey, Western Grebes, Pigeon Guillemots, Cormorants, and Surf Scoters!!"

- Naturalist Kate Janes

Above (Left) photo: Bonaparte's Gulls just west of Gedney Island. These were two of a raft of 70+ gulls!! Above (Right) photo: A Gray Whale's Lingering Mist. Photos by Naturalist Kate Janes

27 Tours in a Row with Whales!!

"Gray Whales in sight!" reports Naturalist Jami Nagel from the Island Explorer 3! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for updates from today's tour! "Our passengers started out today with an amazing look at 3 bald eagles harrassing an osprey for his fish. The fish was the only winner in this battle! Next we took a cruise by our lazy California sea lions on the marker. As we headed out towards Hat Island we saw blows off the south end of Hat Island. Three gray whales were slowly moving toward the river delta. Patch, #49 and #22 were 2 of the whales. We stayed with them for sometime than headed toward Camano Head to check out an eagles nest that was faithfully being watched over by a mated pair. We also discovered a new eagles nest today on the west side of Hat Island! As we headed back toward Everett we came across the grays again. They were actively feeding with quite the following of surf and white-winged scoters!"

Whale Watching Report

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Sunset Feeding Frenzy

4 Grays!!!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Gray Whale Spyhops 7 Times!!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Jack Johnson's Biggest Fans!!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Blue Water Reflected Blue Skies!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

27 Tours in a Row with Whales!!

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