Whale Watching Report

We headed well to the north today to show our guests Orca Whales! Captain Michael said they saw some very active whales! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for an update on today's tour from Naturalist Bart Rulon!

9:30 am
We started our morning off by cruising through the inner San Juan Islands. The weather started off cloudy with a little rain, but as we moved our way through the islands things improved until we eventually had sunshine and blue skies. We found an orca superpod just west of Speiden Island. As soon as we arrived on scene with the orcas we saw action with several orcas breaching, a few doing tail slaps and one spyhopped at close range. The orcas were grouped up pretty closely together. This first group we watched included J-pod and L-pod orcas. Other orcas were spread out behind us and out to the west. All the orcas were swimming toward Stuart Island, and eventually many of them swam right against Stuart's rocky shoreline. They continued to be very active along the shore breaching often, cartwheeling, tailslapping, and spyhopping. 4 year old, Comet, K38 was swimming alone close to us for several minutes and then later mom, Spock, K20, came over to join the youngster. Spock swam right behind our boat giving us all a great look. Other orcas we saw included J1, Ruffles, L57, Faith, K21, Cappuccino, K26, Lobo, and many others. The scenery was beautiful as the orcas swam right next to shore up to the Tern Point lighthouse. We said goodbye to the orcas as they reached the point. On the way back to the dock we cruised close to Speiden Island and saw great views of the mouflon sheep, sika deer, and fallow deer. A large group of big rams were resting out in the open for everyone to see. We also got a good look at several harbor seals hauled out on the rocks in this area.

3:30pm
Our second trip started out with a bald eagle flying along the shoreline on Fidalgo Island. The superpod we saw on our first trip swam north this afternoon heading up to the Frazier River so we decided to look for some transient orcas that were closer to home. We drove through the inner San Juan Islands again and came out at the top of San Juan Island. We found the group of about 8 transient orcas swimming north in Haro Strait just west of Andrews Bay. There were several females, one calf, and a big male that looked like a teenager. The orcas surfaced many times and occasionally changed directions while we parallel viewed them. Our passengers got many good looks at all the orcas in this transient pod. On our way back to the dock we spotted a bald eagle circling over Battleship Island, and eventually he landed on one of the trees there. Conditions were calm as we cruised back through the San Juan Islands to the dock to end a great day of whale watching. Naturalist Bart Rulon

"Our adventure started in Rosario Strait as we headed southward we found Heerman's Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls, and Rhinoceros Auklets involved in a cooperative feeding act on bait fish at they congregated at the surface! The Pigeon Guillemots were even out with their young of the year showing off their two different plumage's! Colville Island provide our guests looks at hauled out Harbor Seals while the Strait of Juan de Fuca would later reveal just how Harbor Seals swim! It was near Eagle Point that we found the Orcas of the Southern Resident Community! All 3 pods were presents and were spread out over 5 miles even spilling over into Haro Strait! The first whale our guests encountered was Mega (L41)! This 31 year old male swam effortlessly through the water showing off his over six foot tall dorsal fin! Shortly after Nugget, Lapis and little L109 milled about in the waters near the boat! It was a morning for the youngsters for Lea had a lot to handle with her youngster K42, who was showing off its new moves! Little K42, born this spring, was backdiving and taillobing close to mom! The youngster wasn't the only one having fun we watched as whales breached, spyhopped, taillobed and even cartwheeled!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

"Rosario Strait lead us into the vast waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca! As we began our search for whales our guests encountered hundreds of Common Murres diving to incredible depths (up to 590 feet)! With the young murres in tow the rafts of birds created a patchwork of black & white at the surface of the water! Peering down into the water enormous Lion's Mane Jellies contracted in the water making their way slowly through its depths! Reaching Hein Bank the bird activity only increased with a frenzy of activity scattered around the bank as they fed on bait fish just under the surface! Watching the Glaucous-winged Gulls, Heerman's Gulls, and Rhinoceros Auklets paid off for a very hungry Minke Whale all of a sudden went crashing through the congregation of birds sending them flying!! After that grand display we found ourselves then playing the patience game as the whale became comfortable with us and we watched for patterns in its swimming! Being rather elusive we waited and watched as it continued to quickly break the surface! Then in one grand finale the Minke appeared just as it first did, breaking with speed through a bait ball sending the birds to the sky! The afternoon brought us back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and lead us to Smith & Minor Islands! As we drew closer to Minor Island it became quite apparent that we weren't the only visitors to the island! Sitting high above the other shore birds sat 3 Brown Pelicans!! Hauled out near the waters edge were over 50 Harbor Seals! We looked on Minor Island taking in all the activity and even checked out a Bald Eagles nest that had been built on its sandy shore! We then ventured southward towards Smith Island where 3 Tufted Puffins were swimming!! There is a small breeding population of these little sea parrots that nest on Smith Island! After a great visit with these beautiful birds we ventured back north towards Lawson Reef where a Minke Whale appeared!! We watched diligently searching for the whale through the small swell that started to develop! It surfaced a couple more times then a tug and tow entered into the Lawson Reef area! After the tug departed the Minke was no where to be seen. We ventured into calm waters where we found a Great Blue Heron flying along Young Island. We as a company pride ourselves on showing our guests whales and since many of ours guests didn't see the very elusive Minke Whale all of our guests will get another opportunity to join us whale watching again for life until they see a whale! We guarantee whales (Gray, Humpbacks, Minkes and/or Orcas) and love sharing our passion for whales and the other wildlife in the area!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

"Our morning started on the back side of Guemes Island as we entered into the Strait of Georgia! Watching Harbor Porpoise feeding in the tide rips and Pigeon Guillemots diving into the depths of the glassy water we entered into Rosario Strait heading south towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca! Our journey lead us to Hein Bank where we found 2 feeding Minke Whales enjoying a brunch of bait fish! We watched the birds as the smaller Minke Whale sent a tidal wave through the middle dispersing the birds all at once!! Among the birds that were sent flying were Common Murres, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets & Heerman's Gulls! It wasn't too long before the smaller of the two Minke Whales became quite comfortable with our presence and gave our guests an up close look as it swam right along our starboard side!! We watched as the two very hungry whales fed! Soon we found ourselves having to leave the friendly Minke Whales and returned towards the dock by the south end of Lopez Island! We stopped at the pass between Lopez Island & Castle Rock where we found a half a dozen Turkey Vultures, a Bald Eagle perched atop a rocky ledge took flight over our boat, Harbor Seals were soaking up the sun on rocky outcroppings, while pairs of Marbled Murrletts swam nearby!! The afternoon brought us back along the north side of Guemes Island where we continued up the Strait of Georgia! The strait produced hundreds of Harbor Porpoise gently rolling through its water, scavenging Harbor Seals swimming about, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots as we continued our journey north towards Point Roberts! Just south of the peninsula we found members of J & L pods milling around its shores! We received a special surprise from Princess Angeline (J17) as she passed close by not once but twice as we sat with engines off as the whales all began milling about quickly changing their course! Princess Angeline's daughters, Polaris (J28) & Tahlequah (J35) weren't far from their mom! Polaris seemed to be playing nanny from Eclipse (J41) as her mother Shachi (J19) watched nearby! We left as the sun continued sinking lower in the sky watching Ruffles (J1) enormous dorsal fin rise & fall in the water!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

We searched for Orca Whales on our morning tour in the area where we thought they would be but they were elusive! We were able to show our guests Minke Whales, Sea Lions, and Bald Eagles! We continued our search on the 3:30PM departure and at the South end of Hein Bank, Orca Whales! With some rain and a little fog forming, we were still able to eventually find the Orca Whales and we are the only American boat on-scene! Stay tuned for a full report from Naturalist Jami Nagel. "We had 2 minke whales at Salmon Bank on our 9:30 am trip! We had some great looks several as one of the minke's feeding in a rather large bait ball amongst the birds!! We also had a great look at Swirl rocks of a bald eagle, several harbor seals, 2 black oystercatchers and 4 harlequin ducks.
We set out in search for whales on our 3:30 pm trip and ended with Transient orcas (the T100's) at Hein Bank! We had an amazing show with lots of surface activity. Lots of breaching, taillobbing and spyhopping! We also wittnessed a sprouter male smacking a common murre out of the water with his fluke! They appeared to be teaching one of the calfs how to hunt. The calf came up and grabbed the bird at one point. This was my best Transient orca sighting in all the years I've been watching whales!!!!!"-Naturalist Jami Nagel