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

Orca Whales Right Off Our Dock!

The Island Explorer 3 is on-scene with Transient Orca Whales, right in front of Anacortes! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for details on today's adventure from Naturalist Kate Janes!! "It wasn't long after leaving the marina before we were on scene with Transient Orcas!! Finding the Orcas just outside of Burrows Pass closely grouped and heading out towards the center of Rosario Strait! We found T102 (a large Transient male) swimming among 6 other females and a couple of juveniles! They slowly made their way into the middle of the channel all the while bucking the tide! A youngster began getting quite playful with a curious spyhop, some taillobes and the most amazing head stand ever witnessed!! At one point during their longer dives they reappeared off our port side causing many on board to jump from the unexpected sound of their exhalation near the boat!! The whales finally made their way into the traffic lanes in Rosario Strait and we left to explore the surrounding islands! At Williamson Rocks we found Pigeon Guillemots, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Heerman's Gulls and hauled-out Harbor Seals enjoying the wildlife refuge! We navigated around Allan Island and then towards Burrows Island's east side! We found the Orcas not far from where we had left them as they continued their slow pursuit northward! Watching their ease upon which they move through the water surfacing slowly before sinking back into the frigid water! Our afternoon trip also enjoyed the company of T102's subpod in a completely different location within the islands! We found 2 of the 7 whales at the south east side of Lummi Island! They were quickly moving northward up island staying near the shoreline! Their white exhalations made for quite a dramatic show against the dark waters surrounding Lummi Island! We watched as the 2 became 4 as they met up with two smaller females just on the north side of Lummi Rocks! Every Harbor Seal swimming at the surface in close proximity to the Orcas had a look of concern on their face as they nervously glanced about them, attempting to keep track of the Orcas location! It seemed as if seal was not on their menu for their next meal. We continued to watch and wait to see if they were hungry! At the north end of Lummi Island the Orcas encountered Harbor Porpoise but alas they whales weren't in the mood for a meal! They were however in the mood for a visit for both T102 & a smaller female came to the boat for a closer look before continuing northward!! We returned back to the dock just a the sun was setting over the San Juans!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

Superpod on both trips!

Orcas porpoising on our afternoon trip!

We had another perfect day for whale watching today. It was calm, sunny, and hot. We started out our day searching for whales in Rosario Straits. We cruised north looking until we reached Point Lawrence on Orcas Island. At Peapod Rocks we watched a bald eagle and several harbor seals on the rocks. One seal mom with her pup were swimming close by. Next we turned south and headed toward Hein Bank. We got word about orcas coming in from the Pacific Ocean out near Port Angeles so we did our best to get out there as fast as possible. Along the way we spotted two minke whales near the south end of Hein Bank. When we finally reached the orcas we could see that it was obviously a superpod. Members of all three resident pods were present. Most of them were tightly grouped up in a HUGE resting group. A few other orcas were spread out closer to us and they appeared to be wide awake and looking for fish. Close by we saw Cappuccino, K21, his sister Raggedy, K40, Splash, L67, and Canuck, L7. Our group was the most active. K21 turned upside down and did several tail slaps at the surface. One of the others breached for us twice, and we saw about three spyhops. Captain Carl positioned us perfectly for a photo of Cappuccino swimming along with Mount Baker in the background. Soon the large resting group started to wake up and spread out just as we started to head back to the dock. We were late coming back, but I think everybody was happy that we saw orcas!!

3:30pm
For our afternoon trip we started by traveling through the inner San Juan Islands heading northwest. We saw several harbor seals in the water and some eagles in the trees as we went along. We reached the orca superpod at the west side of Stuart Island. Some orcas were grouped up pretty tightly and others were spread out. Faith, L57 was swimming with a bunch of J-pod members. We saw members of all three pods again on this trip. Some of the orcas that were spread out were pretty active. We saw many breaches today especially from the young calves. A group of 4-5 calves were all playing around with each other, breaching, splashing, and rolling around. All the orcas started to move in toward the shoreline of Stuart Island. We saw several orcas perform cartwheels near shore and many of them had bull kelp draped in their dorsal fins as they swam. Ruffles, J1, and Mike, J26, were in clear view as they swam near the shoreline. The lighting was beautiful for photography on the orcas. On our way back to the dock we cruised close to Speiden Island and saw many of the exotic animals feeding out in the open including the fallow deer, mouflon sheep, and sika deer. When we slowed down through Wasp passage we spotted the osprey nest and an osprey perched nearby. What a beautiful day for watching all three pods swimming together!! Naturalist Bart Rulon

We see the new L-pod calf on both trips today!!

The new L-pod calf, L111!

The new calf with mom L47, Marina.

The weather was perfect for whale watching today. Our morning trip started out with us heading south through Rosario Straits. As we cruised toward Hein Bank to look for whales we spotted two tufted puffins along the way!! Just as Captain Carl was circling around to take another look at them he got a call that a boat had spotted orcas over by Deception Pass. So we turned around and cruised over there quickly. We got on scene with the orcas just northeast of Deception Pass heading north. It was a portion of L-pod and they were split up into two groups. The first group we visited included Racer, L72, Fluke, L105, Nigel, L95, Nugget, L55, and Lapsis, L103, among others. They appeared to be in a resting mode because they were bunched up pretty closely together. The next group we visited included Marina, L47, and her brand new baby L111, who was born just yesterday!!! Many other L-pod orcas were also in this group. There movements seemed to be focused around the new calf. At one point L111 turned around and swam south and all the other orcas swam right back to get the little one pointed back in the right direction, heading north again. We got some great looks at L111. One orca, bringing up the rear, did multiple tail slaps in a row as he approached the group with the new calf. Next we peeled off to look at Bird Rocks where we saw some harbor seals, lots of cormorants, black oystercatchers and pigeon guillemots. As we pulled away we also spotted a bald eagle perched on a reef marker, watching two seals fighting below him in the water. Next we cruised over to watch the orcas again at Guemes Island. By then the two groups had merged into one larger group and they were still going up and down pretty close together. One orca spy-hopped for us. As we said goodbye to L-pod a bald eagle flew right out in front of us. For our afternoon trip we cruised north to find the same L-pod group at the north end of Lummi Island. In 8 years of doing this I've never seen any of the resident orcas swim northward in the Rosario Straits/Bellingham Channel area like they did today. It must have had something to do with the new calf. We had fantastic views of the L-pod group all bunched up together for the entire afternoon trip. We saw lots of the new calf again, and the lighting was fantastic on the orcas as the sun was going down. On the way back home we made a few stops to look at bald eagles and one bald eagle nest. What an exciting day for us and an exciting day for L-pod. Naturalist Bart Rulon

The New Calf s

New Calf in L Pod Confirmed! - Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Our guests are enjoying the company of some of the youngest members of the Southern Resident Orcas out near Cattle Pass! Stay tuned for the exciting news of L111 from Naturalist Kate Janes!

Just An Itch (Steller Sea Lion)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Fresh Catch (Nugget L55 with Salmon)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Two Mouth Fulls (Nugget L55 & Racer L72 both with Salmon in their mouths)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Curious Youngster (L109)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"We left port under blue skies and a quickly warming day! At the end of Guemes Channel we encountered fog that lingered with us until Cattle Pass when the hard working sun lifted the fog! As the fog lifted we began to see the black dorsal fins of Southern Resident Orcas!! When we came on scene with the whales they were inshore milling, then quickly they all began coming off shore. This back and forth between onshore & offshore continued as we sat and watched the "dance" which was unfolding before us! Marina (L47), Moonlight (L83), Muncher (L91) and little L110 broke away from the milling and began heading northward. This gave us a great opportunity to parallel the group giving our guests great photo opportunities! We left the whales as a majority of them were still milling out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca! As we ventured back towards Anacortes we found a small Minke Whale near Whale Rocks! How appropriate! We also found the first Steller Sea Lion of the year! Reminding us that September is just around the corner! The evening brought us back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and as we entered we found 2 Brown Pelicans sitting on the water! This was only the start to a fantastic evening! As we grew closer to the Orca Whales news traveled over the radio that Marina (L47) had become a mother for the 6th time, having given birth to L111 in the last 24 hours!! Marina has not only had six calves but is also a grandmother to her eldest daughter, Moonlight (L83), who gave birth to her first calf L110 this time last year! We found a portion of L pod near Eagle Point milling about in a very playful and curious manor! Racer (L72) & Nugget (L55) appeared off our stern both with a salmon in each of their mouths!!! Then little L109 appeared closeby as we witnessed possible foodsharing between Racer, Nugget and the calf! Little L109 made a huge spyhopp off our stern exposing its salmon stained chin!! Playing about nearby was Fluke (L105), Racer's first born, who spyhopped 6 times!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

Marina (L47), L111, Moonlight (L83), & Moonlight's calf L110

** It wasn't until further inspection of the photos taken from the morning trip that tucked in between Marina & Moonlight was a very small calf, L111!! In the photo you can barely see a very small dorsal fin wedged between its mother and older sister! Its birth was confirmed by our evening trip!

Orcas All Throughout the Islands! - Monday, August 11, 2008

The Island Explorer 3 is enjoying Orca Whales out in the San Juan Islands! Stay tuned for updates from Naturalist Kate Janes!

A Watery Playground

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Spieden's Curiosity (J8)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Synchronized Siblings (Cappuccino K21 & Raggedy K40)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"The south end of Lopez Island welcomed us into the Strait of Juan de Fuca! We neared Colville Island where we found a pair of Marbled Murreletts! These small endangered seabirds are a rare sighting in the San Juan Islands as we only have a few mated pairs in the area! Just north of False Bay we visited with a portion of L pod! Spirit and one of her sons, Skanna, were milling just off shore from San Juan Island. After some very long down times we watched as Skanna worked against the current! He slowly rolled through the water and eventually became more surface active giving our guests great looks as his exhalations bubbled from under the water! As we began to leave scene an orca began porpoising in towards shore and us!! We stopped watching as it met a boat wake and porpoised right through it!! Our journey lead us back to Lopez Island where in its shallow waters surrounding Castle Rock a Belted Kingfisher was found flying along its shoreline. We also found 12 Turkey Vultures soaring overhead and perched on the rock looking down at us! The afternoon took us northward up Bellingham Channel and into the Strait of Georgia! Just south of Point Roberts we found the rest of the Southern Resident Orca Whales! We found J, K and the rest of L Pod in the flat calm waters in the fading light of the day! We first visited with Granny, Ruffles & Spieden swimming slowly across the strait towards East Point! After a time without warning Spieden spyhopped!! Then moments later she spyhopped again! They continued on through a riptide as we watched Slick and her brood following right behind the elders of J pod! Little J42 began breaching and taillobing near her older brother Mike! We could see whales for miles as they all made their way in our direction! Our last visit was with Cappuccino (K21) and his sister Raggedy (K40)! We left as the whales continued towards East Point and the Canadian Gulf Islands!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

Superpod!!

The Island Explorer 3 is on-scene with all three Orca Whale Pods!! Stay tuned for an update from Naturalist Jami Nagel and click here to see the location of the Orca Whales from space! "Our 9:30 am tour was treated to a Superpod this morning. We had to go the distance today end up just east of Race rocks. The whales were very active with lots of breaches and numerous spyhops! We had some great looks at Mega (L-pod) and also Ruffles. Ruffles gave us a great spyhop. We also had a bald eagle on swirl rocks and lots of harbor seals sprawled out on the rocks.

Our 3:30 trip we headed for the west side of San Juan Island were the whales were spread out at Lime Kiln north. After passing the lighthouse at Lime Kiln the whales were active. We were fortunate to see 2 whales mating just off the stern of the boat. As the whales headed north we were treated to some great porpoising (speed swimming, the whales can get up to speeds of 30 mph at short burst!!). We end the trip with a scenic ride through the inner island with a beautiful sunset."

Whale Watching Report

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Orca Whales Right Off Our Dock!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Superpod on both trips!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

We see the new L-pod calf on both trips today!!

The New Calf s

New Calf in L Pod Confirmed! - Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Orcas All Throughout the Islands! - Monday, August 11, 2008

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Superpod!!

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