Whale Watching Report

And yet another breach.

On our way out to visit orcas today we stopped along Colville Island to watch about fifty harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. Moments later we realized that there was also a bald eagle picking at something on the rocky shoreline behind the seals. Next the eagle took flight and landed on the rocks just above the seals. Eventually we reached the orcas north of lime Kiln State Park, and it was obvious very quickly that we had a superpod including J, K, and L pods! J27, Blackberry, L12, Alexis, and L85, Mystery were the first three orcas we saw close-up as they swam right next to each other. Next we found J1, Ruffles, swimming out in front of the first three. The orcas were spread out in small groups. Near Henry Island the superpod seemed to group up, and we saw some breaching and spyhopping action. Then within the next fifteen minutes we saw multiple breaches and cartwheels by a variety of different orcas. As we neared the end of our time with the whales they seemed to group up in a sleeping pattern and we got some great views of many orcas surfacing close together, including several K-pod orcas like K21, Cappuccino, and K40, Raggedy. I was very excited to see my first superpod of the year, and passengers were in awe of the first superpod of their lives! Life is good! Naturalist Bart Rulon

Our whale watching began today out at Hein Bank when we spotted three minke whales. We spent most of our time with one of them in particular that seemed to be very curious about our boat. He surfaced many times near us and came in so close on one occasion that we could see his eye! Later as we cruised over toward Smith Island we spotted another minke whale that was also very cooperative. What happened next at Minor Island was like a Discovery channel episode. We could see about ten bald eagles lined up along the shoreline, with two groups of harbor seals nearby. As we approached one of the groups of seals a bald eagle flew in and landed right amongst the seals and started to feed. Some of the seals seemed very alarmed and others didn't seem to care much. Soon another bald eagle flew in and attacked the first eagle as they fought over the food as the seals watched like spectators at a boxing match. At first we couldn't really tell what they were feeding on, but soon it became apparent that the eagles were probably feeding on afterbirth left behind from a brand new seal pup that had just been born. A mother seal started protecting her tiny pup by getting between the eagle and her youngster. Next the adult seal started lunging at the closest eagle forcing him into the air. Before long other eagles were flying in and fighting over the scraps. Fortunately for the seals, all three of the pups in the area seemed to get through the whole ordeal unharmed. One thing I love about these trips is you just never know what's going to happen from one day to the next! Naturalist Bart Rulon

We took a ride through the inner San Juan islands today with information that J-pod was heading north. Along the way we spotted several bald eagles, one of which flew right over our boat! When we finally reached J-pod they were in Canada right up against the shoreline of Pender Island. As soon as we arrived on the scene we started seeing action. We saw spyhop after spyhop in the beginning including one double spyhop! J1, Ruffles, J2, Granny, J8 Speiden and others were in the leading group which was the most active. Soon J-pod's activity turned from spyhops to tail lobs and cartwheels! Eventually we saw several breaches from adults and youngsters. We must have seen over 10 spyhops and at least 20 cartwheels today! Other orcas we spotted close-up included J26, Mike, J27, Blackberry, J28, Polaris, J17, Princess Angeline, and her new calf, J44. We had the wind behind us for a very comfortable trip back to the dock after we watched the orcas. Naturalist Bart Rulon