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

Lunge Feeding Minke Whales at Eastern Bank!

Stay tuned to the Whale Report for details on today's tour from Naturalist Kate Janes! "It was a gorgeous July day and we found ourselves in the flat calm waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca! At Hein Bank we found a Minke Whale feeding on the bait fish that were being pushed up in the water column by this huge underwater shelf!! We zigged and zagged with the whale anticipating its next surfacing! Then it was off to Eastern Bank where 3 more Minke Whales were apparently having a lunch date!! We choose the most surface active whale of the three and did it pay off! The whale disappeared under the water and as we watched for its next appearance we noticed Rhinoceros Auklets resurfacing in a close cluster then quickly disperse, moments later we understood why as the Minke Whale came lunging out of the water!!! Our guests had an amazing look right off the side of the boat! Unfortunately our time was drawing to an end and we reluctantly had to leave those very hungry Minke Whales! In the afternoon we ventured out to Hein & Salmon Bank in search of whales. It wasn't until after a wonderful visit to Smith & Minor Islands where we enjoyed over 50 hauled out Harbor Seals, hundreds of Glaucous-winged Gulls, and a mature Bald Eagle feeding on the northern shore of Minor Island. At McArthur Bank a presumably male Minke Whale, based on size, appeared out of its watery depths! We following its small footprint to gauge its next surfacing! Our guests were not only able to see the Minke Whale's exhalations lingering mid-air but also heard it! Other wildlife we enjoy visiting with included: Harbor Porpoise, Heerman's Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots, swimming & thrashing about feeding Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures, Common Sea Stars, and even River Otters off the shore of Smith Island!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

A Beautiful Day in the San Juan Islands

"Our day started with a perched mature Bald Eagle on Cap Sante Point looking towards a magnificent Mount Baker!! We ventured through glass calm waters towards Thatcher Pass then turning southward we headed towards Lopez Island. At Castle Rock we watched as Pigeon Guillemots playing in its surrounding waters, then it was onto Swirl Rocks where we enjoyed hauled out Harbor Seals under the watchful eye of yet another mature Bald Eagle! It was then into the Strait of Juan de Fuca for our search for whales! At Hein Bank we found feeding Harbor Porpoise, swimming Harbor Seals, and hundreds of diving Rhinoceros Auklets. We then made our way to Salmon Bank where a Harbor Seal made an unusual appearance hauled out on a log in the middle of Salmon Bank!! Even though the conditions were picture perfect the whales were enjoying their day elsewhere! So each of our guests will get the opportunity to join us again to see whales for free! Although we didn't see whales we enjoyed a beautiful day out on the waters surrounding the San Juans watching as a Caspian Tern plunged into the water, Harbor Porpoise quickly rolling through the water, hundreds of feeding Rhinoceros Auklets, and female Common Murres swam on calm waters!! " - Naturalist Kate Janes

Orca Whales Just North of Anacortes!

The Island Explorer 3 is on-scene with Orca Whales! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for an update from Naturalist Bart Rulon! Click on this link to see the location of the Orca Whales from space! We had one of our best, and longest orca shows of the year on today's trip. We started out heading north through Rosario Straits. Our first stop was at Peapod Rocks where we checked out several harbor seals and a bald eagle perched on one of the rocks. We also saw several harbor porpoise in this area too. This morning we were the first boat to find the orcas on the west side of Lummi Island. Captain Carl, first mate, Brooke, and I were all up in the wheel house looking hard for orcas, and all three of us saw a huge splash at the same time off in the distance. A few seconds later an orca came breaching out of the water to make another splash!! That was a pretty good sign as to what the rest of our day would hold. As we approached the scene one orca swam right toward us and breached several times, twice right next to the boat. These orcas were very active, doing lots of breaching, spyhops, and cartwheels. We saw members of all three pods and they were spread out like a wall across Rosario Straits. Early on we saw many J-pod members like Ruffles, J1, Spieden, J8, and Blackberry, J27. Blackberry was swimming close by for a long time, and every once in a while he would breach, or do a cartwheel at close range. K22, Sekiu was hanging out with much of J-pod, and ,Faith, L57 came by for a visit too. We definitely had all three pods today for an official superpod day. It was hard to tell passengers which way to look because breaches were happening in all directions, close by and off in the distance. Other orcas we watched at close range included Slick, J16, Alki, J36, Mike, J26, and J42, Spock, K20, and Comet, K38. The orcas swam us gradually back to the Fidalgo Island area so we were able to spend maximum time with them. They were very entertaining today making this one of our best days of the season. Naturalist Bart Rulon

J, K and L pods today

The weather conditions were perfect for our morning trip today with calm seas and sunshine. We headed north looking for orcas today. Along the way we stopped at Peapod Rocks to view several harbor seals hauled out on the shore and a bald eagle perched on a rock. The eagle even posed for us by opening up his wings for a good photo opportunity. We reached the trailers in an orca superpod just east of Stuart Island. The first orcas we saw were L-pod orcas Skana, L-79, and Mystery, L-85. Swimming along with them was K-pod orca Raggedy, K40. As they reached the shoreline of Stuart Island one orca breached! We drove ahead to Turn Point to watch the orcas pass by the point very close to the shore. They had to swim out of their way to go around a big kelp forest. This group bunched up and became active after passing the point and we saw one breach and some tail slaps. Last we moved offshore to take a close up look at Mega, L41, swimming all by himself. Our return trip was through the inner San Juan Islands giving our passengers a scenic ride home.
Our afternoon trip started out with word that the wind would be picking up in the afternoon. Knowing that we rushed out to find the whales as soon as possible without making any stops along the way. We found members of J-pod and K-pod swimming southward well off the west side of San Juan Island, offshore from Salmon Bank. As we were approaching the scene we saw a couple of orca spy hops. Our first two whales at close range were Granny, J-2, and Sekiu, K-22, swimming together. Next we watched a big group of orcas approach, including Ruffles, with their blows lighting up with back lighting from the sun. Soon we had orcas in all directions and several breaches in a row. One orca breached 5 times in a row for us. The wind was slowly getting stronger so we decided to take a return trip back through the inner islands going through Cattle Pass. A Stellers sea lion rolled around at the surface and swallowed a salmon with one big gulp right in front of us just inside Cattle Pass. Later we stopped to watch two adult bald eagles and two immature eagles on Decatur Island. One adult bald eagle was perched right next to the nest with the big chick perched inside. We got to see one last bald eagle perched high on a dead snag bathed in full sunlight. Soon a turkey vulture flew right in front of him. Within a minute or two the eagle took flight and flew right over our boat. Two great blue herons were flying high above at the same time. What a great way to end a beautiful day. Naturalist Bart Rulon