Hello, this is our whale watching and wildlife trip report. I created this page to give you a sense of what our trips are like and to keep our previous customers up to date on whale activity. I will add reports about our trips on a regular basis and will even add a photo here and there.

Hope to see you soon,

Ivan Reiff
Owner & Captain
Western Prince Whale Watching & Wildlife Tours
Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands, Washington

October 1, 2005

We had some fantastic encounters this past week. Our resident pods of Orcas were here almost every day, and on the days when the Orcas weren't around we visited with the wonderful Gray whale that has been hanging around this summer.

Today we received a report of all three pods in Rosario Strait near Lopez Island. They were kind enough to meet us at the bottom of San Juan Channel, which meant that we were able to spend a lot of time with them this afternoon. We observed some great foraging behavior, saw a few breaches and had some really nice vocalizations.

Speaking of vocalizations. On the way home I made a stop at Whale Rocks to check out the 15 or so Stellar Sea Lions hauled out there. I shut down the engines and drifted so we could we hear them. We watched as two massive males jockeyed for position on the rocks, letting out roars like a bear. It is easy to see why these guys are often called the Grizzly Bear of the sea.

To top the day off we saw the most brilliant rainbow I have ever seen. It stretched all the way across San Juan Channel as we headed back to Friday Harbor. The islands are breathtakingly beautiful in the Fall.

September 23, 2005

Another beautiful week of whale watching. The weather here in the San Juan Islands has been incredible this September, as it usually is, with calm smooth waters and sunny skies. We have seen all three pods of resident Orca Whales almost every day this week, as well as Stellar Sea Lions (largest in the world at 12 ft. long and 2000 lbs.) and "Freddy" the Gray Whale.

Today we found all three pods at the south end of the island. What a great encounter. At one point we had 3 adolescent whales come right by the back of the boat rolling over each other and generally goofing off. It was really interesting to see how rambunctious these guys were away from the adults. I also put our hydrophone in the water and we were treated to some really great vocalizations.

On the way home we stopped to look at a mature Bald Eagle and its nest and went by whale rocks to find some Stellars. I shut the boat down near a Kelp bed and we sat silently as about 16 Stellars roared and jockeyed for position on the rocks. I never get tired of seeing these guys!

September 16, 2005

The last week of whale watching in the San Juan Islands has been awesome. We have had all three pods of resident Orca Whales around almost every day. The Stellar Sea Lion sightings have been fantastic as well, and the weather has been calm and beautiful. September is definitely my favorite month here in the islands.

Today we caught up with J pod, K pod, and L pod on the southwest side of San Juan Island. We followed them slowly up north along the side of the island. Just as we were getting ready to leave, all three pods began to group up and come together. It was too interesting not to watch, so I shut the engines down and we sat still with the hydrophone in the water as the groups came closer and closer together. When the whales met they all went below the surface and stayed under for about 4 minutes. Meanwhile the vocalizations coming in over the hydrophone were amazing. Suddenly about 3 or 4 whales surfaced heading south, and then a few more, until we had well over 60 whales spread out in a single line porpoising (speed swimming) south back down the island. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed.

September 8, 2005

Whale watching today was amazing!! We ran south from San Juan Island to catch up with J pod, K pod, and L pod, who were all traveling together. Right before we left the dock I also received a report of 2 Humpback Whales near the area where the Orcas were. I thought that if we were really lucky that we would be able to see the Humpbacks on the way to see the Orca Whales.

Well, we were better than really lucky. As we came into the area where the Orcas were we started seeing lots of Orca dorsal fins and blows. Then right in the middle of the Orcas we saw 2 very large blows as the humpbacks surfaced! I have never seen, nor heard of, Humpbacks swimming in the midst of Orca Whales. It was a most incredible sight.

After watching the Orcas Whales for a few minutes I decided to get a closer look at the Humpback Whales. By now they were starting to slowly move in the opposite direction of the Orcas. We ended up spending about 30 minutes with these 2 whales, and at one point we were stopped with 2 other boats waiting for them to surface, when they both came up next to one of the boats and began to swim around it. One of them even Spyhopped, looking at the amazed passengers inside.

To top it off, on the way home we caught up with the Orcas again and were treated to some stellar breaches and cartwheels.

September 6, 2005

Today was one of those special days we have in the San Juan Islands. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, the air was clear and crisp, and the water was beautifully flat calm. September is my favorite time of the year. The Orca Whales are around almost every day, the Stellar Sea Lions are back from Alaska, the weather is still great and the number of boats on the water had decreased.

We had a fantastic visit with J pod and K pod this afternoon. Lots of breaching, vocalizing, and foraging behavior. It was just the continuation of wonderful week of encounters with Orcas, a Gray Whale, Porpoises, Stellars Sea Lions, Seals, and Bald Eagles.

August 26, 2005

The weather has been wonderful the last week and the whales and wildlife have been extraordinary. The resident orca whales have been in and out of the San Juan Islands the last week, but should be hanging around more as more Salmon come into the area. Freddy the friendly Gray Whale has been around as well and has been great to see. We are also getting Stellar Sea Lions in the area early this year. These impressive animals average 12 feet long and 2000 lbs and are the largest Sea Lion in the world.

Today we had a wonderful visit with L pod. It looked a little iffy when we left the dock because the orca whales were heading out west. I decided to make a run for it anyway to see what would develop. As we headed down, the whales began to change direction and ultimately started heading back towards the island. We were able to spend about an hour with them as they brought us into San Juan Island. On the way back to Friday Harbor we stopped at Whale Rocks to check out three big Stellar Sea Lions that were hauled out and posing for us. Absolutely beautiful!

August 18, 2005

Another great week of whale watching has gone by. We have had some magnificent encounters with the resident Orcas and have also spent several wonderful trips with "Freddy" the Gray Whale.

This morning we headed south from Roche Harbor with a private charter to catch up with L pod who was coming in from Victoria. Just as we arrived I got a call from Soundwatch that J pod and K pod were coming towards us from the fog bank that was off the west side of San Juan Island. As we sat with the engines off, waiting for the three pods to meet I put our hydrophone in the water. The vocalizations that ensued were so amazing that I had to call two of my friends just to let them hear the whales through my cell phone!

This afternoon the Orcas headed way south and west out of our range, but we had an awesome trip. We found a Stellar Sea Lion (average 12 feet long and 2000 lbs.) at Whale Rocks. We have been seeing a few in the last week, which is early for these guys to be around. We found a Minke whale south of Lopez Island and, of course, we went over to see Freddy the Gray Whale. It was so beautiful watching him in the late afternoon sun as the mist from his breath hung in the air upon each surfacing.

August 11, 2005

The last few days have been wonderful for whale watching and wildlife viewing. The orcas and "Freddy" the Gray Whale have been very kind to us.

This morning we had a private charter that took us out into the fog off the west side of San Juan Island. On the way out I received a report from one of the other boats that there were whales north of us. We promptly headed up and broke out of the fog to find K pod and L pod foraging and playing off of Lime Kiln Lighthouse.

This afternoon J pod, K pod and part of L pod headed up north, moving towards Vancouver, while the rest of L pod did us a favor and stayed near San Juan Island. We had an amazing afternoon with them. At one point a group of about 8 whales had passed by off of our stern, when all of a sudden I noticed that the whales heading away from us were now coming back towards us. We spent the next 15 minutes with these beautiful animals foraging all around us. On the way home we stopped at a Harbor Seal haulout with about 100 seals and cruised by Speiden Island to look at the exotic big horn sheep from Corsica.

August 7, 2005

We have had a fantastic week of whale watching in the San Juan Islands!

On the few days this week that the orcas weren't around the islands, we had some incredible visits with "Freddy" the Gray Whale. Last night J, K, and L pods all came back into the islands.

This morning we had a thick fog bank on the southwest side of the island. We moved slowly through the heavy mist to the area where they were last spotted, stopping every now and then to listen for their "blows" and to put the hydrophone in. Soon we found a group of L pod whales and watched as they glided by, playing and swimming under the fog. It was absolutely beautiful. This afternoon we caught up with all three pods north of the San Juan Islands where it was bright and sunny and the water was perfectly calm. We stayed with L pod for a while as they swam in a very large group (over 40 whales) into Canadian waters and headed north. Two very different trips today, both wonderful for different reasons.

July 31, 2005

Today was another beautiful day. We hung out with "Freddy" the Gray Whale in the morning and caught up with J pod in the afternoon. We ran two of the most beautiful routes through the islands today. Absolutely breathtaking. The whale watching in the San Juan Islands has been truly special this summer. We have been very fortunate to have had whales around so often.

July 30, 2005

The weather was perfect today with crystal clear views of snow capped Mt. Baker in the distance.

This morning we received a report that there were orca whales heading north at Point Roberts (going out of our range) and that there was a rumor of whales off of the west side of San Juan Island. So I headed south to check out the rumor and to also put us in a good position to go see "Freddy" the Gray Whale that has been hanging out around Lopez Island. The rumor didn't pan out, but "Freddy" was absolutely awesome! While we were sitting with our engines off, he came up within 100 feet of the boat. We could see him clearly under the water as he passed by. What a beautiful animal!

This afternoon J pod, K pod, and L pod all decided to head back down towards the San Juan Islands. We caught up with them near the north end of the island and had an amazing encounter. For a while we ran parallel to them as they porpoised (speed swam) south at speeds of up to 11 knots! Then we stopped and shut down our engines as they began to forage around, coming right by the boat. We had one group in particular that was very active. We even heard vocalizations above the water! Very cool.

July 29, 2005

Just before we left the dock today I received a report of all three pods of Resident Orca Whales heading south from Point Roberts. We caught up with them near the Gulf Islands up in Boundary Pass and traveled with them until the Turn Point Lighthouse (the most NW point in the lower 48 states). It was a gorgeous afternoon and the whales were very active, as they usually are in Boundary Pass. We also found a great Harbor Seal haulout and spotted some big Mouflan Sheep Rams on Spieden Island.

July 28, 2005

Today we headed down to the south end of San Juan Island to catch up with all three pods. We had a great encounter with some of K pod and some of L pod, with a couple of nice breaches and tail slaps, and lots of vocalizing.

On the way home we stopped at an active Bald Eagle nest to see two fledgling eagles and then headed over to whale rocks to look at the Harbor Seal haulout. As we approached, I saw what looked like a sea lion sitting up on the rocks. It turned out to be a full grown male Stellar Sea Lion. They average about 12 feet long and weigh over 2000 lbs. It is very rare to have a stellar in these parts at time of year.

July 27, 2005

We had a beautiful whale watching tour today. K pod came back in with some of L pod and joined up with the L-12s. We stopped on the southwest side of San Juan Island, shut down our engines and watched them go by. It was a gorgeous day.

An interesting note. A young K pod male (K31) had become separated from K pod and was found wandering around the area for the last few days. Today everyone anxiously awaited K pod's arrival to see if the they would join up. Fortunately, they did find each other and joined up again. Hopefully K31 will stay with the group.

July 26, 2005

Today we ran a private boat charter in the morning and a public tour in the afternoon. Both whale watching tours were wonderful. The weather was perfect, sunny, calm and warm. On both tours we caught up with the L-12s (a subgroup of L pod) on the southwest side of San Juan Island. We had some beautiful encounters with L79 (Skana), L22 (Spirit), and L41 (Mega). We also found a mature Bald Eagle perched on a rock and had a great look at a Harbor Seal Haulout, and on the afternoon tour we even found a Minke Whale.

In the last few days we have also had some spectacular encounters with "Freddy" the Gray Whale that has been hanging around Lopez Island. There is some speculation that he may take up residence for the rest of the summer. That would be very cool!

July 22, 2005

The last five days of whale watching have been awesome! This morning we caught up with J pod and L pod southwest of San Juan Island. They were foraging and playing all around us and the vocalizations were fantastic. It was absolutely beautiful. On the way back to Friday Harbor we found a Tufted Puffin (very rare) and sighted a new fledgling Bald Eagle taking flight.

This afternoon J pod and L pod were heading north up the west side of the island. On the way there we stopped at Speiden Island to watch Mouflan Sheep (Big Horn Sheep from Corsica), Harbor Seals, and lots of soaring Bald Eagles. As soon as we arrived with the whales and shut down our engines we had J pod porpoise (speed swim) by off of our stern. It was incredible watching these powerful animals launching themselves through the water at about 10 knots.

July 17, 2005

J pod decided to head up to the Fraser River, near Vancouver Canada, this morning, but fortunately the L-12s (a sub group of L pod) were hanging around at the south end of San Juan Island. The rest of L pod was heading west, probably going back out to sea, and nobody knows where K pod went to last night.

We had a great visit with the L-12s. The sun was shining and the water was calm. Just as we were about to leave to head home, L79 (Skana) surfaced, heading towards our boat. He swam by the stern and then up the side of the boat, very close to us. It was absolutely breathtaking watching such a powerful animal slowly glide by. Hopefully K pod will show up tomorrow and J pod should be back down in the morning.

July 16, 2005

L pod and K pod came back this morning!! We caught up with the superpod (all three pods) at the south end of San Juan Island. What a beautiful day of whale watching. Over 87 orca whales foraging, playing, and vocalizing. We even saw some mating activity. Hopefully L pod and K pod will stick around for a while. On the way home we stopped at an active Bald Eagle's nest with two fledgling eagles and took a look at a great Harbor Seal haul out.

July 15, 2005

This morning before we left we didn't have any reports of Orcas. However, there has been an awesome Gray Whale hanging around Lopez Island. So we decided to head over to see "Freddy", as some people are calling him. I also had a hunch that J pod would show up in Rosario Strait this morning. About an hour into the trip we got the report I was waiting for. J pod heading south in Rosario Strait. We were able to run down to spend a few great minutes with the Gray Whale and then had a wonderful encounter with J pod. A great way to start the day.

In the afternoon we caught up with J pod at the northern end of San Juan Island. There had been several reported sightings of yesterday's new born baby, but nothing confirmed. J19 (Sachi) has a 2 week old baby, so it would be easy to mix up the two. Towards the end of the tour we were sitting with our engines off waiting for a group of whales to go by when another captain radioed saying that he had a very small baby with its mother near his boat. At about the same time Sachi and her new baby came by our boat. This confirmed that the baby from yesterday was still around and healthy. We still don't know for sure who the mother is though.

Our encounter this afternoon with Sachi and her baby was one of the most special sightings we have had. We watched as Sachi rolled around in the water playing with her baby, sometimes nosing it up and pushing it sideways. Sometimes the baby would pop up, swimming along side its mother, so small and seemingly delicate alongside the large powerful female. It was a very intimate moment to watch.

July 14, 2005

Two great trips today. We picked up a group for a private charter this morning at Roche Harbor. We didn't have a whale report yet as we pulled away from the dock and I planned on heading out into Haro Strait to look around for J pod. Just as I was making the turn to go north I got some information from our spotter that J pod was down at the south end of the island. It turned out to be an awesome whale watching trip and the mornings are always so beautiful.

A truly special event this afternoon. Just as we were arriving with J pod one of the other boats nearby radioed that they were watching a birth happening! I looked over in their direction and saw several females "logging" at the surface. It was a little unclear as to what was happening, but several boats were confident that they had seen a birth. This is incredibly rare. However, the baby wasn't spotted for the rest of the day. Hopefully it is doing all right.

July 10, 2005

Today we circumnavigated San Juan Island. We caught up with J pod near False Bay on the west side and stayed with them to about the Lime Kiln Lighthouse, where they turned around and started heading south just as we were leaving. We had a flood tide and were already almost half way around, so I figured we might as well go all the way. It is such a beautiful trip and we get to see all of the different parts of San Juan Island and the islands surrounding it.

Lots of great foraging behavior and vocalizations from the whales today. L pod and K pod should be back any day now.

July 9, 2005

What a gorgeous summer day. The skies were sunny and clear, the air warm, and the water was calm and tranquil. On the way north form San Juan Island we stopped at White Rock to see a Harbor Seal haul out with over 100 harbor seals and a beautiful mature Bald Eagle perched majestically on top of the rock.

We caught up with J pod in the Canadian Gulf Islands and had a great visit with them. Some very interesting behavior today. A small group of whale we were watching began to display fishing activity. They were lunging and turning at high speed after their prey. However, it wasn't Salmon they were going after. Apparently they were harassing a Harbor Porpoise. This is very unusual behavior from whales that have only been known to eat fish. It brings up lots of questions about whether they would change their eating habits because of a lack of Salmon. A boat from Cascadia Research was on scene as well, but couldn't confirm if they had killed the Harbor Porpoise or were just harassing it.

July 8, 2005

Today we headed north to catch up with J pod again. J pod has been very kind to us by sticking around the islands for the last few weeks. L pod and K pod have been gone for almost a week now, but should be back any day.

The weather today was very unlike July. A little rain and wind, but not enough to dampen our passengers' spirits. When we have rain we try to limit the number of passengers aboard so that everyone can get under cover if they want to, and we always have lots of hot cocoa available. We had an awesome whale watching trip today. J pod was pretty spread out, so we were able to sit with our engines off and watch them go by for quite a while. At the very end I decided to stop to watch a group of about 7 whales, with a couple of young ones, for what I thought would be 5 minutes. Well, it turned into 15 minutes as the whales decided to forage and play right off the bow of the boat. They were rolling around, lunging, diving and we could hear them vocalizing like crazy on our hydrophone.

July 7, 2005

There has been a Gray Whale hanging around Lopez Island for the last couple of weeks. Grays are not seen around the San Juan Islands very often. This morning we finally had an opportunity to go take a look at it. We headed out into the calm morning waters with a private group charter. The weather was perfect this morning and the route around Lopez Island was breathtaking. We found the Gray Whale feeding in a shallow bay. We stopped and watched as the whale traveled around the boat, coming up for air 2 or 3 times, arching its back, showing us its flukes and then diving down to feed on the bottom. We stayed for almost an hour with the whale, enthralled with its feeding activity.

For our afternoon whale watching tour we went south down San Juan Channel to find J pod feeding off of Eagle Point. Just as we arrived and shut down our engines J-1 (Ruffles) came by the boat. He is an amazing animal, 54 years old, with a 6 foot high dorsal fin. You really get a sense of his size and power when he glides by. We had a great visit with him and the rest of the pod and even caught a glimpse of the new 1 week old baby.

July 6, 2005

This afternoon we headed east towards Anacortes to catch up with J pod in Bellingham Channel. We got to see the new baby J41 (1 week old) again and it looks like it is doing well, which is great to see. I was hoping they would come south to Lopez Pass because there has also been a Gray whale hanging around there for the past couple of weeks. However, the flood tide was so strong today that the whales where basically stuck in the same place for about 2 hours swimming against it and then right after we left they decided to head back up north with the current. This is the third time in a row that they turned with the tide. We were wondering today if it might have something to do with the new baby.

July 5, 2005

This morning I took a private charter group out into the south end of Haro Strait to catch up with J pod. It was a beautiful morning, even with the light fog. As we arrived we found 5 whales swimming slowly towards San Juan Island. As we watched this group go by we saw at least 6 spy hops! Very cool!

On our afternoon tour we found J pod up north of San Juan Island. It was flat calm and we had a light fog throughout the area. At one point we stopped, shut off our engines, and waited as the whales passed by the boat. I also put in our hydrophone so we could here them talk. It was so beautiful and serene watching the whales glide through the smooth water under the mist, and the vocalizations we were hearing were amazing.

July 3, 2005

Another beautiful week of whale watching in the San Juan Islands. There have been several reports of possible new babies this week. So far it has been confirmed that J19 (Sachi) does have a new baby with her. We were lucky enough to see it today on our afternoon tour. It looks so tiny with the other whales, even though it is actually about 7 feet long. There are as many as 7 new babies this year. That is pretty amazing. We are all watching and hoping that they are healthy and doing well.

This morning, before our 9:30 AM tour, I drove down to the south end of San Juan Island to see if any whales were around there. I had just gotten off of the phone with another captain, after telling him that I hadn't seen anything, when I glanced over towards Cattle Pass and saw a large male surface. I then watched as about 60 whales (K pod and L pod) came towards San Juan Island. When they reached Cattle Pass they started breaching, tail slapping, and doing cartwheels. It was awesome! On our 9:30 AM tour we caught up with them off the north end of the island and had a wonderful encounter.

June 25, 2005

Some very interesting activity from J pod in the last week. Yesterday they were headed down Rosario Strait from the Fraser river. Normally when they do this they will continue all the way down, come around the bottom of Lopez Island and start heading towards San Juan Island. However, they decided to change direction at the top of Lummi island and ride the flood tide right back up. Fortunately for us K pod decided to swim against the flood tide and come down around the bottom of Lopez Island, which is where we caught up with them. On my first stop I shut down the engines and waited as the whales passed inshore of us. They came porpoising (speed swimming) by , moving at speeds of about 7 knots against the current. The power that these animals have always amazes me. Later that day we were also lucky enough to see a rare tufted puffin! Today, we did see J pod. We caught up with them in Bellingham Channel and had a wonderful encounter with J1 (Ruffles), J2 (Granny), Sanich and her new baby, and the rest of the family. We were heading down south with them, expecting them to continue on, when they began to group up. One minute we were watching all of them heading south and the next minute they came up heading north. They started heading back up the Fraser river again. Just goes to show you that as soon as you think you know their patterns, they change things up on you. Every day is different and exciting.

June 18, 2005

Another great week. The orcas were around every day except one, and on the day we didn't see orcas we had a wonderful encounter with some playful Dall's Porpoises and had some wonderful sightings of Bald Eagles and Harbor Seals.

Today was magical. There were three different reports of whales today. J pod was heading north from San Juan Island, L pod was coming in from out west of Victoria, and K pod was heading down the west side of San Juan Island. I decided to head south down San Juan Channel to meet up with K pod. The water was smooth as glass out in the middle of Haro Strait where we found K pod. We were only one of two boats with the whales today and for almost an hour we had the whales all to ourselves. We had an incredibley intimate experience watching a mother (K-14) and baby playing together as they swam by. Lots of breaching, spyhopping, tail slapping and general goofing off, as kids will do. We even saw a couple of double breaches.

June 10, 2005

What a great week of whale watching. L pod headed back out west earlier this week, but J pod and K pod have been around almost every day. We have had some truly wonderful encounters lately. We have also been having a lot of fun with Dall's Porpoises, have had tons of Bald Eagle sightings, and have really enjoyed watching the adorable Harbor Seals in the area. Today we headed away from the dock with a rumor of the resident orcas up north and a report of transient orcas out west. I decided to run north to see what developed. There were 5 or 6 boats up in the Strait of Georgia looking for the resident orcas without success. Then, about 45 minutes into our trip, I received a report that the whales were spotted by someone on land in Boundary Pass heading South West towards us. We ran up to meet them north of Stuart Island. We stopped and shut down our engines to watch them go by and put in our hydrophone. K pod began porpoising (speed swimming) by us and were talking up a storm. I never get tired of hearing them vocalize. Then J pod came by. The really interesting thing today was that J pod turned around and headed back up north while K pod continued south to San Juan Island. This is pretty unusual behavior for J pod.

June 3, 2005

Well, we thought yesterday was special. We received a report this morning of whales at the south end of San Juan Island. It seemed a bit odd that J's and K's made it back around so quickly. It turned out to be L Pod! They came in a couple of weeks ago, but only stayed for one day. Hopefully they will hang around a lot longer this time. Later on we heard a report that J's and K's were coming down from the north. They met up at the NW end of the island. It is so great to have all three resident pods back in the area. We are still waiting for the Center For Whale Research to finish a survey on K Pod and L Pod to see if everyone survived the winter. It was so great to see J Pod healthy and all accounted for. We really hope that the other two pods faired as well. Today we had a wonderful sighting of Ruffles (J-1) lunging, turning, and cutting, through the water after a fish. What a powerful animal!

June 2, 2005

J Pod came back into the islands this morning and brought their buddies K Pod back with them! Last year K Pod didn't come back in until July. We had an amazing whale watching experience up by Pender Island. We shut down our engines and drifted for about 1/2 an hour as we watched both pods travel past, breaching, tail lobbing, spy hopping, and vocalizing up a storm. On the way home we stopped to look at a Bald Eagle's nest and had a great sighting of the Big Horn Mouflan Sheep that live on Speiden Island.

June 1, 2005

The Orcas were out west today. Hopefully they will be back soon. However, there were 2 Humpback whales off the west side of San Juan Island!! Very exciting! These whales are normally very rare in these parts. The last time there were any around was October of last year. I haven't heard, but it would be interesting to know if these are the same ones returning?

May 31, 2005

It's been a busy week of whale watching around the San Juan Islands. L pod headed back out to sea after only a couple of days around the island. Hopefully there will be more salmon for them when they get back. J pod, however, has been around almost every day. We have had some incredible encounters with Ruffles (J1), Granny (J2) and family. On one of our trips we had a large female turn on her side to look up at us as she slid past our boat about 2 feet under the water's surface. Summer truly came to town for Memorial day weekend with temperatures in the low 80s a couple of days. Today the weather cooled down a little and we had a bit of rain this morning. However, by this afternoon the sun was shining and the sky was blue, despite the weather forecast saying otherwise, and we were one of only 3 boats watching J pod this afternoon off of San Juan Island. The last few weeks J pod has been doing something really odd. They have been splitting up into two groups and have traveled separately for days at a time. Some think this may be an indication that food is in low supply. It's important to remember how much these beautiful whales rely on healthy salmon runs.

May 22, 2005

L Pod is back!! They came in to the west side of San Juan Island last night and apparently joined up with J Pod sometime this morning. When we arrived on scene they were all milling around socializing. We heard some absolutely amazing vocalizations over our hydrophone and enjoyed watching the physical interactions between the whales. It was as if old friends were getting together after a long winter apart. There also appeared to be a new calf with L47. It will be a few days before we know if all of L Pod is healthy and accounted for. We are all hoping that everyone is back and that the new calves are doing well. It was so great to see them again. We also had some great sightings of Stellar Sea Lions, Dall's Porpoises, and Bald Eagles this past week.

May 15, 2005

Another beautiful week of whale watching in the san juan islands. We've had lots of encounters with J40 (5 month old baby of Samish J14) this past week. He/She seems to be doing well and has been seen travelling and playing with mother and siblings. Today we had 2 DJs on the boat from KISM radio, Bellingham. They had an awesome time and we had a great encounter with a group of Dall's Porpoises. This past week I finished putting new sliding windows on the boat, giving our guests the best of both worlds. If we get a little rain, we just slide the windows back, providing a comfortable ride with an unobstructed view. When it's sunny, we have the windows all the way forward giving full access to the clean fresh island air.

May 7, 2005

J Pod as been around the San Juan Islands almost every day in the last week. We have had some really interesting encounters. On Thursday we saw J14 (Samish) and her offspring, including her 5 month old baby, foraging near Eagle Point. They were nearly 4 miles behind the rest of the pod, but didn't seem to care. We watched for about 10 minutes as they dove and lunged after fish. We even had one of the juvenile whales breach 4 times in a row. Today we encountered J Pod in the middle of Haro Strait. They were completely spread out in groups of 2 to 3 heading up towards the Canadian Gulf Islands. The really interesting thing that happened today is that we observed a group of Dall's Porpoises playing with a large female Orca. It's amazing that the porpoises can distinguish between our friendly resident orcas and transient orcas. Transient orcas, by the way, would make lunch out of the porpoises. On Tuesday J Pod decided to stay out in the ocean, probably looking for food. We had an extraordinary wildlife trip with a fantastic Dall's Porpoise encounter (see 1st photo). We even got to see some of these little guys surf the bow wake of a giant tanker ship. We have also been checking up on a nesting pair of bald eagles in the area. I noticed an eagle sitting in the nest about a month ago and have seen it, or its partner, in the nest every time since then. Hopefully, we will be seeing a fledgling soon. The photo is poor but you can make out the eagle pretty well.

April 30, 2005

It looks like J pod is here to stay for the summer. We have seen them on every one of our trips in the last week! We've had some very interesting whale watching. Several days this past week we left San Juan Island with no report of the whales at all, and received our first word from the spotting network more than an hour into our tour. I've had to extend a few of our tours and burn some extra fuel to get to them, but it has been well worth it. We have had some magical encounters with J pod and the wildlife along the way has been beautiful and amazing.

April 24, 2005

Is it summer already?? The last week as been spectacular! The weather here in the islands has been sunny, with temperatures in the 60's, and the Orca whales blessed us with their presence 4 days last week. J pod has been spending a lot more time around the San Juan Islands then they normally do this time of year and we had a very large group of Transient Orcas (mammal feeding orcas) in the area yesterday. We have also had some really great sightings of Stellar Sea Lions. On one trip I ran last week we saw a gigantic Stellar (probably over 2000 lbs) bring a 50 lb Halibut to the surface. We watched for almost 15 minutes as he proceeded to rip the fish apart and devour it.

April 16, 2005

Another fantastic spring day in the San Juan Islands. We actually had quite a bit of rain this morning, but by departure time the sun was shining and it stayed with us for the rest of the day.

Our trip north from San Juan Island was wonderful. We encountered Dall' Porpoises, Harbor Seals, looked at a nesting Bald Eagle, and had an amazing visit with some Stellar Sea Lions. The Stellar Sea Lions are down here from Alaska for the winter and will be leaving soon to go back north. At one point I had the engines shut down so we could drift in silence and watch the sea lions feed. We were just watching 3 big males feeding nearby and were waiting for them to come back up. All of a sudden they started surfacing, the first one about 100 yards from the boat, the second one about 50 yards from the boat, and the third one just 25 YARDS AWAY! It was an amazing sight and very unexpected. Stellars normally will not come very close to boats and we always try to give them some space while we are watching them. It was just amazing to see them so close.

April 5, 2005

We are just getting started on our 2005 season. There seems to be more Stellar Sea Lions down here from Alaska than usual. These guys are fascinating to encounter. They average about 2000 lbs. and grow up to 12 feet long and are often called the Grizzlys of the Sea. They only stick around until May, so right now is a great time to see them. The Dall's Porpoise are always exciting to see as well. They are little black and white bundles of energy, often playing in the bow wake of our boat. Keep an eye out for an article in Horizon Airlines Magazine about Dall's Porpoise encounters on the Western Prince II. I can't forget to mention all of the magnificent Bald Eagles that are around and all of the adorable Harbor Seals we encounter as well. The islands are beautiful this time of year and the wildlife is out in full force.

September 17, 2004

Wow!! We have had some incredible trips lately. I love this time of year in the San Juan Islands. The whale watching has been awesome and the other wildlife has been simply amazing.

For the last couple of weeks our resident pods of orca whales have been feeding around San Juan Island. It's really great to see them eating so much. We are always concerned that there won't be enough salmon to sustain their populations. We have also seen lots of transient orcas in the area, which makes for very interesting trips.

Today was definitely one of the highlights. We had a super pod (all three pods) very close to the island and the weather was absolutely perfect. The water was glassy smooth and the sun was shining for our whole trip, even though you could see the clouds hanging over Seattle to the south. We sat with the engine off for almost an hour watching, and listening to, the whales glide through the calm water. On our way back to Friday Harbor we came across a Minke whale feeding on bait fish, 15 Stellar Sea Lions (average about 2000 lbs.) hauled out on some rocks, and a majestic Bald Eagle high upon an evergreen.

September 6, 2004

The last week and a half has been full of some wonderful whale watching trips and exciting wildlife trips. Last week we had some unseasonably wet weather for the San Juan Islands, but the whales didn't seem to mind. Its sunny and beautiful again now, like a "second spring" as we call it here in the islands. Everything is green again.

Well our resident orca whales decided to take a three day vacation for themselves and headed out into the ocean for Labor day weekend. We had some awesome wildlife trips with some incredible Dall's Porpoise viewings. I love this time of year. There is so much to see in September and the crowds have thinned out quite a bit. Today we were fortunate enough to have 2 Humpback Whales south of San Juan Island. It was a bit of a run for us, but well worth the extra time and fuel. There were only 3 boats with these guys. We also had a report of a VERY large group (36) of transient (mammal eating) orcas in Juan De Fuca. It could get very interesting in the next day or two, as our resident (fish eating) orcas should be back any day now.

August 24, 2004

We have been very fortunate to have all three pods of whales around the San Juan Islands every day for the last two weeks.

The past few days have been really interesting. We've had true north west weather with some rain and fog. But not enough to dampen our guest's spirits. The islands look incredible with the mist hanging in the lush green trees and the whales are so beautiful and serene, swimming beneath the quiet fog.

The Stellar Sea Lions are also back! These guys average about 2000 lbs and are the largest sea lion in the world. Some of them spend their winters in the San Juan Islands, down from Alaska.

Here are a couple of photos from some recent trips.

August 19, 2004

Today was truly a special day of whale watching! The weather was perfect and the whales were amazing, as you will see below.

We left San Juan Island and headed north for what looked to be a very long run. Fortunately for us they decided to help us out a little by turning and swimming towards us. We caught up with them just off of Patos Island.

We had two great passes with all three pods traveling and playing together. It was time for us to head back. But I thought to myself, what the heck, we are already late, what's a few more minutes. So we stayed for one more pass, and boy am I glad we did. Take a look at what happened in front of my camera lens!

August 14, 2004

The last couple of weeks have been incredible for whale watching and wildlife in the San Juan Islands. We have seen whales on most of our trips, with many super pod (all 3 pods together) sightings. We have also had a few days when the whales headed out west in search of food and we had some awesome wildlife and porpoise trips.

The great thing is that every day is different and always unique. This evening, for example, I was running a sunset trip. We had all three pods out in Rosario Strait, east of the San Juan Islands. It looked like L Pod, who was closest to us, was beginning to slip into a sleeping pattern as they were headed towards Bird Rocks. As we watched and waited to see what side of the rocks they were going to pass we saw 3 large males surface up through the kelp bed about 15 feet from the rocks! The whole group of whales ended up going through the kelp, rolling around in it and draping it over their fins. And then a large male did a huge breach just past the kelp bed. Who wants to sleep when there is kelp to play in. It was great!

On a side note, it is important to remember that if we don't protect the wild runs of Salmon, including their rivers, in this part of the world that our beautiful orca whales may not be here some day. Next time you hear about protecting or rebuilding salmon habitat or about the harmful effects of farmed salmon on wild salmon, think about our incredible orca whales.

I also just got an awesome new camera. It's a Nikon D70. I have been playing around with it the last few trips and here are some pictures.

July 31, 2004

We have had some wonderful whale watching and wildlife tours in the last week and a half and the weather in the San Juan Islands has been stellar.

Lots of super pod days as well. One day that was particularly interesting was this past Tuesday. The L12s (a small subgroup of L pod) were very close by on the west side and most of the other whale watching boats were there. However, I received a report of J pod, K pod, and the rest of L pod coming down Rosario Strait and angling out towards Deception Pass. It was a bit of a run to get out to them, but it was WELL worth it. We had 3 large males and several females pass close to our boat. As they passed our stern J-2 (Granny) breached about 20 feet away! What an amazing sight to see this 93 year old matriarch launch herself out of the water.

We have also had a few days when all three pods decided to head out west to the ocean in search of salmon. We ended up having some really spectacular wildlife trips with some great porpoise experiences, lots of Bald Eagles, and tons of cute Harbor Seal pups. Dall's porpoise are 6 feet long black and white bundles of energy. They regularly surf our bow wake and people watch, turning on their sides to look up at our passengers just 6 feet away.

The fact that our resident orcas leave this area occasionally reminds us that these are still truly wild animals (fortunately) and that if we do not protect and revitalize their food supply (Salmon) they may not be around forever.

July 20, 2004

Another amazing day! This morning we ran a private charter for a summer camp.

We were fortunate enough to witness a sort of greeting ceremony. We were with J pod, K pod, and a part of L pod when they met up with the L12's (a small subgroup in L pod) this morning. The whales we were with lined up in a tight group and approached the L12's as they lined up in a group facing them. It was fascinating to watch. The really interesting thing though was that J's and K's all of a sudden took off and porpoised (speed swimming) past the L12's. It was amazing seeing this tight group of whales launching their bodies out of the water as they sped off. These are truly powerful animals. Meanwhile, the rest of L's met up, swam around in a circle, and then started breaching, spy hopping, and cart wheeling all over the place.

Later in the trip Shann mentioned that she had done some research on shark-Orca encounters. She found records of Transient Orcas (mammal feeding) preying on Great White Sharks! It's hard to believe that the almost cuddly whales we observe are capable of that.

We caught up with all three pods again in the afternoon just north of San Juan Island and continued the great whale watching day. We also had a great Bald Eagle sighting on the way home.

July 19, 2004

I knew it was going to be a good day when we found a Tufted Puffin in San Juan Channel. A very rare sight. What a beautiful little bird!

We caught up with L pod just south of the island and had an extraordinary afternoon with them. At one point a large female (we think Imo) came over to the boat and did some human watching. She turned and came right up to the boat from 100 yards away, surfacing along side only 5 feet from our bow, swam underneath our bow, surfaced on the other side, cruised along that side of the boat at about 10 feet and surfaced off of our stern. It was one of the most wonderful encounters I have had.

July 2 - 18, 2004

Well, sorry about lack of reports in the last couple of weeks. My laptop crashed and I had to reinstall everything.

It has been an amazing couple of weeks for whale watching! K pod showed up finally. Yeah! We witnessed a spy hop 15 feet from the boat, vocalizations that we could hear above the surface, a whale playing with a fish, and lots of breaching contests. We have also seen tons of Bald Eagles and even observed a harbor seal tearing apart a huge octopus.

The whales have been nearby everyday and each day has been different. Here are several pictures from the last couple of weeks. The sunset is from a really great evening trip that I ran for Chemawa Indian School the other night.

July 1, 2004

Whales and Eagles!

We caught up with J pod north of San Juan Island today as they quickly headed towards Active Pass. We had a great visit with Ruffles. We watched him for about 30 minutes as he fished and traveled north, his 6 foot tall dorsal fin piercing the surface as he came up for air. It's always fun spending some time with this old guy. We also had a great spyhop from another whale nearby.

On the way home we had an incredible Bald Eagle sighting on Cactus Island. There were 3 mature eagles and a fledging in the tree tops. At one point a mature eagle took off from a snag, gliding up, and soared effortlessly in the oncoming breeze. What a beautiful sight to see these graceful creatures in their natural environment.

Read my June Whale/Wildlife Reports

Read my May Whale/Wildlife Reports