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

Orca Whales Sighted in front of Anacortes! Plus our Best Gray Whale Trip of the Year!

Gray Whale #22 spyhops for us!

Gray whale #383 spyhops for us too!

Looking into the eye of the whale

A bald eagle making a perfect landing

Tomorrow (Friday) is our last Gray Whale trip out of Everett. It's been a great Gray whale season; we showed our guests whales on every trip! Perfect 100% viewing! It's not too late to reserve for Friday's trip! Saturday we are excited to begin the Orca/Minke whale watching season out of Anacortes! The weather is suppose to be great and Orca whales were sighted right in front of Anacortes the past few days so we are set! Reserve now and let us show you the beautiful Salish Sea! Without a doubt our trip today was by far the best trip of the year!!!! I will start with the highlight of the trip. We found gray whales #22 and #383. They started by showing us plenty of tail flukes as they dove time after time. After about half an hour of viewing they swam into the shallows off Hat Island and started spy hopping like crazy for us. It was one spy hop after another for us. In total these two gray whales probably spy hopped a total of 30 times. It was the best gray whale watching I've ever seen in my 9 years of doing this. Other wildlife spotted today included California sea lions, western grebes, bald eagles, and caspian terns. What an awesome day! Naturalist Bart Rulon

J-Pod Orca Whales Sighted

A new gray whale for this year, without a name yet.

Right after our trip our nesting osprey protects his catch from a crow looking for scraps.

One of two gray whales spotted today comes to the surface.

Today, the Island Explorer 3 is on-scene with Gray Whales - that's 45 tours in a row with the whales. Our Gray Whale program from Everett has had a 100% sighting success rate for 2008 and 2009! Our last Gray Whale Tour from Everett will be Friday, May 8th. While we had a great spring season in Everett and are sad to leave, we are really excited to start our Orca Whale tours from Anacortes on Saturday, May 9th. Southern Resident Orca Whales were sighted in the area yesterday for the first time in over 30 days - so, our timing looks good...that's exactly why we focus on Gray Whales in the spring.
For details on today's tour, check back for an update from Naturalist Bart Rulon. We had some rain today on our trip but the wildlife didn't mind at all. We started out with sightings of three California sea lions. Next Captain Michael spotted our first gray whale. This whale was taking some deep dives and raising his tail flukes into the air before each long dive. We soon realized that this whale was a new one to the area for this year. We decided to cruise around some more and look for more whales. We eventually came back to the area with our first whale, but we found another one instead that gave us some good close up views right before we returned to the dock. Other wildlife spotted today included western grebes, bald eagles, ospreys, and a red-necked grebe. Naturalist Bart Rulon

It's Not Just Any Monday When You Are Out on the Water!- Monday, April 4th

"Our day on the water started with some great looks at a few California Sea Lions hauled out on two channel markers. From there we ventured toward Gedney Island where we found Patch, #49, & #21 swimming side-by-side! The stillness of the day allowed the sound of their exhalations to arrive to our ears! Getting some great looks as the two ventured closer to the boat before making their way towards the Snohomish River Delta where their behaviors changed abruptly into meal time! At the northern end of Gedney Island we happened upon three Harbor Seals that had found refuge from the frigid water on a floating log! All three were balancing making sure to stay perfectly still as their rounded bodies curled upward out of the water as much as possible, while another seal swam around hoping to find room on their makeshift island! Quite the day to kick off our last week with the gentle Grays! We also enjoyed a close encounter with a Osprey who flew just over the bow pulpit, a Bald Eagle perched on the day marker, and a group of friendly Harbor Porpoise were a great finale to a fantastic day!" -Naturalist Kate Janes

4 Different California Gray Whales Seen on Today's Trips!

AM: "We found two Gray Whales about mid-Gedney Island approximately 25 minutes once leaving the dock! #21 & #383 made a direction change towards Mission Beach as they slowly made their way East. We were getting quite spoiled as #383 was fluking about every other exhalation! Once over to the shallow waters off of Mission Beach they both switched quickly into feeding mode in close proximity to one another! As they fed our guests watched as their pectoral fins & half of their flukes broke the surface of the water! Incredible to see these two over 40 ft animals in about 10 ft of water!"
PM: "On the afternoon trip we spotted a whale from quite a distance away after leaving the marina! However, by the time we ventured closer the whale, who turned out to be our old friend Patch (#49) was moving from feeding on the Snohomish River Delta to heading out into the channel and moving north towards Saratoga Passage! We had some excellent looks at his large fluke and he even gave us a couple of really great looks as he ventured closer to the boat to do some people watching! The sound of his exhalation was heard by all as he gracefully moved through the calm waters! Later we ventured back towards Mission Beach were we found #53 & Dubnuck, #44. Also seen on today's trips were Harbor Seals, California Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, Western Grebes, Surf Scoters, and Caspian Terns!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

40 Tours in a Row With Gray Whales

Captain Carl radioed-in from the Island Explorer 3 to report 3 Gray Whale sightings today. Next tours are Saturday, this afternoon at 3pm, Sunday at 11am and 3pm, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 11am. Orca Whale Tours from Anacortes start May 9th. Stay tuned for details on today's tours from Naturalist Kate Janes. AM: "Our day may have started with a little bit of Washington's fine liquid sunshine but it didn't seem to bother our guests or the amazing wildlife we found out in Possession Sound! We found a couple of Gray Whales feeding in the Snohomish Delta! Enjoying these massive cetaceans move confidently in very shallow water as they fed on Ghost Shrimp was quite the experience! The giants thrashed about as they sucked in mud, water and those tasty little shrimp that they love so much!"
PM: " By the afternoon trip there was a break in the weather and the sun decided to grace us with its presence and so did the whales! We found #49, Patch, hanging out with #53 at the north end of Gedney Island moving northward up Saratoga Passage! These two were very fluke happy bringing their large tails high out of the water! On both trip today our guests enjoyed other wildlife as well including: Bald Eagles, Osprey, Western Grebes, Pigeon Guillemots, Caspian Terns, Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

#723 Puts On a Show to Remember!!

"In the midst of crew introductions a juvenile Bald Eagle flew right over our guests standing dockside!! While still in the marina we slowly passed by Jetty Island where we found 5 more juvenile Bald Eagles & 3 mature Bald Eagles soaking up the sunshine, but they took a backseat to the Gray Whale we watched feed on the other side of the island! He was chowing down exposing a partial fluke and a pectoral fin at the surface as he sat in very shallow water! Later on during the trip we introduced our passengers to Patch, #49, as he was heading southbound towards the Snohomish River Delta where #723 was leaving from! We ventured over to visit with the giant as he speedly went towards Gedney Island lifting his fluke every 3rd or 4th surfacing! We got some great looks and he did as well as he spyhopped not once but twice exposing his eyes at the surface looking right at us!! What an amazing day!! First spyhop of the 2009 season on a day that could pass for a day in June!!" -Naturalist Kate Janes

Whale Watching Report

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Orca Whales Sighted in front of Anacortes! Plus our Best Gray Whale Trip of the Year!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

J-Pod Orca Whales Sighted

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

It's Not Just Any Monday When You Are Out on the Water!- Monday, April 4th

Sunday, May 3, 2009

4 Different California Gray Whales Seen on Today's Trips!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

40 Tours in a Row With Gray Whales

Friday, May 1, 2009

#723 Puts On a Show to Remember!!

Previous Posts

Archives

Every Day Savings!