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

Octgober 22, 2006

Our last trip of the season turned out to be one of the most spectacular. We headed out west today to try and catch up with 3 Humpback whales that were spotted.

It began as a normal encounter with Humpbacks in this area. We watched as these beautiful animals swam through the water, every so often giving us a wonderful view of their tails as they went down for a deep dive.

Then one of them lunged forward, pushing it's head out of the water a bit. Then another one lunged. Then a partial breach! Then a full breach!! For next half hour we watched as the three whales breached and cart wheeled almost non stop. One of the most amazing displays I have ever seen in this area.

October 10, 2006

We got a wonderful surprise on Sunday morning. J pod showed up on the west side of the island! Our resident Orca whales normally aren't around all that much this time of year, so it is always special for us when the do show up. I noticed on Saturday that there were a lot of Salmon jumping in the waters near San Juan Island. Maybe we are getting a late run of Chinook? J pod has stuck around for three days straight now. Hopefully this means they are getting lots to eat and will stay in the area a while longer for us this month.

Our last couple of whale watching/wildlife tours have been some of the best of the season. The weather has been flat calm and sunny, the Stellar Sea Lions have been amazing, the Dall's Porpoises have returned and are as playful as ever, and of course our old friends in J pod have blessed us with some amazing encounters. Today was full of spyhops, tail slaps, some nice breaches, and some spectacular vocalizations. Here are a few photos from our trip today:

October 7, 2006

Today we headed out with a report of Humpback whales way out west, past Victoria, BC. On days like this I always have to decide whether to make a very long run with the prospect of seeing a couple of whales or stay close and hang out with our amazing Dall's Porpoises and other wonderful wildlife. Today we had it both ways.

I decided to head south from Friday Harbor to see how things would work out. Our first stop was Whale Rocks where we found about 15 huge Stellar Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks. I was able to shut down the engines for a few minutes, and as we drifted silently, we could hear the deep roars of the Stellars as they fought for position. Awesome animals! Then we headed out off the south end of San Juan Island to look for Minke Whales. Suddenly we spotted about 8 or 10 "rooster tails" in the water. This could be only one thing, Dall's Porpoises! As we headed over towards the splashing about 15 porpoises came flying in towards our bow. We were treated to a truly spectacular encounter with these playful little guys, watching them swim just a few feet below us.

Well, we already had an amazing trip, but we still had a lot of time left. We could hang around and check out some of the nearby islands, or I could drop the throttles and go for the Humpback whales. I mulled it over a few minutes and decided it is towards the end of the season and I don't get to see Humpbacks very often, so we went for it. It was a long run, even at 20 knots, but what a beautiful encounter. We found a mother and calf traveling in the calm waters southwest of Victoria. Here are some photos of today from Nan, one of my Naturalists. Beautiful!

October 4, 2006

The last week has been full of beautiful weather and amazing trips.

Our Resident Orcas have been around quite a bit lately, Transient Orcas keep popping up unexpectedly, and we have even had a couple of trips with Humpback Whales. We are also having some awesome encounters with Dall's Porpoises and Stellar Sea Lions. The Dall's Porpoises have been pretty scarce most of the summer, but are starting to show up all over, and boy are they playful. One of the most special experiences you can have on the water is when these adorable little animals decide to hop on our boat wake and go for a ride. No other animal in the area interacts with us so directly or gives us such a close and personal look.

Here are some photos of the Humpback Whales and Dall's Porpoises, and a report by JB (one of my Naturalists) from last week:

Well, for those regular readers of my reports, you know my motto for September is "September whales are my favorite whales."  Well, today, the last day of September, we had the chance to be with all 3 resident orca pods as they traveled up Pender Island.   The whales were quite spread out, with J-1 Ruffles leading the way. Lots of very tight groups traveling over a large distance, and one group seemed to be doing some mating as they passed somewhat distant to our stern.  After we left the whales, we thought we'd search for some Dall's Porpoise, and didn't know we were in for quite the rare treat.  As we approached the north side of Stuart Island, we became surrounded with 6-12 Dall's .  Now most of this year, the Dall's have tended to be a bit boat shy and not as frequently sighted as in years past.  The words that best describe our encounter are:  ballistic, enthusiastic, energetic.  The guys probably gave me my best Dall's viewing that I've had in 10 years!  They were flying around the boat, circling around us like we were standing still.  Their surfacings were so fast they were putting our huge rooster tails.  We also got to watch them in action as another boat paralleled us, giving us the chance to view them bow-riding.  The porpoises literally flew from one boat to the other, and even after we pulled off and turned around, they still followed along!  Good to see the Dall's back in action!  It was the icing on the cake for our passengers.
John Boyd (JB)
Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

Sept. 26, 2006

This has been one of the best Septembers we have ever had. The weather has been almost perfect and the wildlife spectacular.

The last five days have been amazing. Our Resident Orcas have been around every day except one, and that day we had an awesome encounter with a group of Transient Orcas (T20s and T100s) close to San Juan Island. We are also starting to see Stellar Sea Lions at the south end of the island pretty regularly. I just love this time of year!

Today I received a report of a large group of Orcas heading north from San Juan Island and a smaller group at the south end. There were a lot of boats at the north end and only one boat at the south end. However, that boat was going to be leaving before we could get there. We also had wind out of the north, which would make it choppier up north.

It was a bit of a gamble, but I decided to head south in search of the smaller group that was all alone. Wow! That gamble sure paid off. It took us a while to find the group (L12s and L5s), but we ended up being the only boat with them, in smooth glass-like water, for over an hour. Just as we arrived we were treated to a beautiful breach from a 1 year old baby Orca. As soon as I could, I shut the engines down and dropped the hydrophone to listen to the wonderful vocalizations as a female swam by the boat on her back, slapping her tail in the water. They were heading for a huge kelp bed off of Hein Bank. We had the special opportunity to watch as they swam through the kelp, draping it over their dorsal fins and flukes as they went. Orcas will sometimes do what we call "kelping", but I have never seen so many whales do it all at once. Gorgeous!

Just as we were following the Orcas away from the kelp I glimpsed a Minke whale pop up. We got to enjoy a couple more brief sightings before catching up with the Orcas again. Minkes can be very elusive, but pretty cool to see.

On the way home we stopped at Whale Rocks for the best Stellar encounter so far this season. Over 20 huge 2000 lb. Sea Lions on the rocks and in the water roaring and gnashing their teeth. We also found an adult Bald Eagle near the nest on Long Island. A perfect day!

Sept. 21, 2006

The last three days of whale watching in the island have been phenomenal!

On Tuesday morning we received a report of a large group of Transient Orcas (mammal feeding Orcas) heading west from Race Rocks. Out of our range and heading further away. It looked like the chances of seeing Orcas was pretty small. That is, until we got the report about an hour before our trip that all three Resident pods were heading in from Race Rocks at the same time as the Transients were heading out. Awesome! We ended up spending a magical September afternoon with the whales in Haro Strait. I actually came in an hour late because I just had to spend as much time with them as possible. It was great to see all of the Transients lately, but it is good to have our old friends back in the area.

Yesterday and today we caught up with the Resident Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island and had wonderful encounters on both trips.

We also had an amazing Stellar Sea Lion encounter today with 10 of them hauled out on Whale Rocks. Stellar Sea Lions are the largest Sea Lion in the world at 12 feet long and 2000 lbs. They are starting to show up in the area more and more, coming down from Alaska for the winter.

Sept. 18, 2006

Today was my day off and my relief captain, Pete, was driving the boat. Pete is by far one of the best captains on the water.

The T30s were out west again, but this time even further than yesterday. Pete decided that it just wasn't worth the run out there today, and went on to check out all of the other wonderful wildlife we have in the area.

I was enjoying the afternoon with my wife and son driving down the west side of the island. At one point we stopped near South Beach and, as I was gazing out upon the smooth water thinking it how nice it would be to see a group of whales go by, Azarel from Deer Harbor Charters gave me a call. He was up north and had just happened upon a group of 10 Transient Orcas (T20s).

It was late in Pete's trip, but I called to let him know the information just in case. Pete decided to go for it. They came in over an hour late, but from what I hear it was an amazing encounter, with the Transients doing their best imitation of Resident Orcas. Lots of breaches, cartwheels, spyhops, and general goofing off.

Once again, you just never know how things will work out.

Sept. 17, 2006

Well, I thought yesterday's run was long.

Today the T30s were out west way past Victoria again, only farther than yesterday. When we left the dock it looked like they were coming closer, but were still far away. I decided to head south down San Juan Channel and reassess the situation when we got to the south end of the island.

At the bottom of the channel we stopped at Whale Rocks to check out some Stellar Sea Lions that were hauled out. Awesome animals at 12 feet long and 2000 lbs., propped up on their fore flippers and roaring at each other.

Then came the moment of truth. Do we run out west and hope that the whales get closer, or do we head north up and around San Juan Island looking for porpoises? The reports of porpoise sightings I was getting were pretty bleak and the Orcas looked like they were going to head our way. So we went for it.

The going was a bit rough, but we had a hearty crew of passengers aboard today and their was a sense of adventure in the air. As it turned out, the whales changed direction and headed away from us. However, there was no way I was turning around after running half way there. We kept going all the way almost to Race Rocks (way past our normal range) and caught up with the T30s for a great encounter in surprisingly smooth waters. I always love watching Orcas under a gray sky. There was something about the lighting that made them more mysterious and wild.

A long trip, but well worth it!

Sept. 16, 2006

Today it looked like the T30 Transient Orca group would be out of our range. They were way out past Victoria, BC and heading away when we left the dock. So, we headed north in search of other Transient Orcas, Eagles, Seals, and the other wonderful wildlife in the area.

We went up north around the top of San Juan Island, checking out the exotic land animals on Spieden Island on the way. Then into Haro Strait to search for Porpoises.

As we headed down Haro Strait I received a call that the T30 group had turned and was heading back towards San Juan Island. We were pretty late into our trip and the Orcas were pretty far away. But I just couldn't resist. I dropped the throttles and headed south at 20 knots. Soon we found ourselves with this wonderful little family group of Transient Orcas that has been so kind to us lately.

Another beautiful encounter and smooth water all the way home. You just never know how things are going to work out. Gorgeous day!

Sept. 15, 2006

Wow, we really have been getting lucky with the Transient Orcas lately! Today we had a report of the T100 group far away from us and heading north towards Vancouver, BC. They were getting close to the limits of our northern range and it was looking like it would be a very long trip, if we could catch up with them at all. Then, about 30 minutes before departure the T30s showed up in Boundary Pass (just north of the San Juans) heading south. This meant less run time, more wildlife, and more time with the Orcas. But, little did we know, that we were in for a truly special encounter.

On the way up we stopped and checked out some of the great exotic wildlife on Spieden Island, found a Stellar Sea Lion swimming by, spied two beautiful mature Bald Eagles, and hung out with some curious Harbor Seals.

We caught up with the T30s just north of Stuart Island as they were traveling down the Pass. It was a beautiful, calm afternoon and the whales were giving us a great view as they sliced through the glassy water. We hung out with them for quite a while moving along down Haro Strait.

They had just gone down for a long dive when I noticed some Dall's Porpoises up ahead. As I watched, the porpoises began to fan out and started speed swimming rapidly through the water away from the direction the Orcas were headed. Dall's porpoises are one of the fastest mammals in the ocean. Then all of a sudden one of the female Orcas came flying out of the water with amazing speed, clearing the water's surface by at least 4 feet with her body menacingly arched. (Photo from Angelica to right) This was no breach, or playful cartwheel. This was an attack. She was dialed in on one of the porpoises, swimming and flying through the air at close to 30 knots. Twice more she hurled out of the water after her prey. Orcas will use this technique to break free of the pressure from the water and actually increase their speed. It looked like the porpoise was doomed. But on the next surfacing the Orca had slowed down to a normal pace and her family started grouping up around her. They began traveling slowly south together again. The porpoise had apparently given her the slip and moved on to live another day.

I have seen fuzzy out of focus pictures of this type of event, but this is the first time I have actually witnessed it. It's definitely one of the most amazing encounters we have had on the water.

Sept. 14, 2006

Today was amazing! This morning it looked like it was going to be an extremely long run to see a couple of groups of Transient Orcas out west. However, as I was forwarding an update to another captain that was on his way out he just happened to find another group of Transients just south of San Juan Island. We had a wonderful encounter with the T30s and because we were so close to home, we got to check out a bunch of other wildlife as well. You just never know how things will work out.

Here is a guest report by Nan, one of my Naturalists from today:

Today was one of those days, with the Southern Residents "Gone Fishing". We heard that there was a large group of transients heading toward Victoria, and away from us at 10kts! It looked like it would be a long ride, if at all even possible, from Friday Harbor. We shifted the trip to an hour earlier, and right before we left the dock, we got news of a group of another group of transients not far from Salmon Bank buoy! We found four transients, (T-30's) cruising up the west side of San Juan Island about 2:15 p.m. There was one large male, a female and calf and a juvenile in the group. They had just made a kill upon our arrival according to the Cascadia Research boat, which was on scene. The whales continued north, traveling, and then suddenly swerving and diving in foraging action. At one point we saw a seal surface in between our boat and another boat. The whales were headed directly for the spot where we last saw the seal. Again blood was spotted in the water by the research boat. We were treated to several adult spy hops and lots of zippy action by the littlest member of the family. It was a beautiful day with flat water, sun breaks, and easy viewing.

At Open Bay we had to head back around the island. We came across a seal feeding on a salmon. Then lots of harbor seals on Sentenial Rock, cormorants, black oyster catchers, gulls, and joking around we wondered, ok, so where's the eagle? Bingo. As we headed toward Spieden Island, an eagle appeared on a tree close to shore. Now, how about a stellar sea lion at Green Point? About to turn south and head down San Juan Channel one of the crew shouted, wait! A stellar just popped up near the kelp! So, we motored along a little more and had a nice look at this animal as it rounded the point going north!

Another grand day on the water as we circumnavigated San Juan Island and viewed some of the incredible wildlife we have here as they went about daily life at home in the San Juans!

Nan Simpson Marine Naturalist - Western Prince

Sept. 13, 2006

The last week and a half have provided us with some wonderful whale watching and wildlife tours here in the San Juans.

On Monday and Tuesday last week we had great encounters with our Resident Orcas. We did not run a trip Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we were surprised with a last minute sighting report of Transient Orcas (mammal feeding Orcas, T20's and T100's) just before we left the dock. Both days we had large groups of the whales being very social and active. The picture to the right is courtesy of Sharon Harper-Peck, one of our passengers from Friday.

This time of year our Resident Orcas rarely spend more than a day or two out of the area. However, they went west to the Pacific Ocean early last week and are not back yet. They are probably waiting for the rains to bring the salmon into the area and should be back any day now.

In the mean time the weather has been gorgeous and we have been out looking for Transient Orcas, Dall's and Harbor Porpoises, Minke whales, Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Stellar Sea Lions, and interesting sea birds, while exploring the beautiful islands. We are starting to see more Dall's porpoises this fall than have been around in the summer, which is great. Dall's are some of the most interesting wildlife out here and are always a pure joy to see, especially when the ride the wake of our boat. The Stellar Sea Lions are also starting to show up. They are awe inspiring animals, averaging 12 ft. long and 2000 lbs. They are often refereed to as the Grizzly Bears of the sea.

Today I received a late report of some Transient Orcas (T10s) way out by Victoria, BC, but heading east towards us. It was a bit rough out today, but we had a hearty group of passengers on board and were treated to a truly beautiful encounter down south from San Juan Island. I am amazed at how many different groups of Transients are around the are right now. They always add to the adventure of the islands because you never know where or when they might show up.

Sept. 3, 2006

Two amazing trips today!

This morning we left the dock without a report. There were a lot of boats out looking, but no sightings yet. Everyone assumed that the Resident Orca whales would be coming down Boundary Pass from the Frasier River, because that is what they have been doing lately. Of course, just as soon as you think you know their patterns, they change them on you. A few minutes into our trip they were found at the south end of San Juan Island, very close to us. Apparently they had come down Rosario Strait early this morning instead. We cruised on down and caught up with all three pods (90 whales) traveling along. At one point we had a group of about 20 whales pass off the boat. What a beautiful sight! We were also treated to some great breaches and cartwheels. They just looked so happy and healthy. I love seeing them so energized.

This afternoon the whales had headed further north.

On the way up we stopped to check out some beautiful Mouflan Sheep (Big Horn sheep from Corsica) on Spieden Island, a bunch of little Harbor Porpoises, and at one point found ourselves surrounded by about 15 adorable Harbor Seals, all staring up at us with their big eyes.

We found the whales up by Turn Point (the most Northwest point in the lower 48 states) spread out in small groups. We watched as a seemingly endless procession of whales went by, foraging, frolicking, and vocalizing as they went. This is one of my favorites spots to see the whales and this afternoon worked out perfectly. What an incredible day! I've got to say it again, I love September!

Sept. 2, 2006

We were really lucky today. The resident Orcas headed north to the Frasier River early today and were out of range by late morning. But, by Noon I had three different reports of Transient Orcas (mammal feeding Orcas). It's amazing how much these guys have been around this season and it is always special when we get to see them.

We caught up with the T100's (a group of about 8 whales) north of San Juan Island and had a wonderful encounter. Transients are normally very stealthy and quiet. However, this group was acting a lot more like Resident Orcas. There was an adorable little baby in the group that was goofing off almost the whole time we were with them.

I then headed south to find another group of Transients, the T20's (about 6 whales). We had a beautiful look at the two large males in the group as they glided by in the glassy calm water.

I heard later that the two groups got together further north and began breaching, spy hopping, and generally socializing. Very unusual behavior to observe in Transients.

Sept. 1, 2006

Aaahh, September. September is definitely one of my favorite months in the San Juan Islands. Things tend to slow down a bit, the weather is still great, and the whales are usually around almost every day.

Today we had an extraordinary encounter with all three pods of resident Orcas just south of San Juan Island. We were treated to some beautiful socializing, foraging behavior, and lots of vocalizing. At one point we had two whales swimming side by side, just "logging" on the surface together. They were almost in perfect synchronization as they swam by, the whole time right at the surface, until they both took a deep breath, arched their backs and slipped beneath the water at the same time. We also got to see some great breaches, including a baby that breached 4 times in a row! The photo to the right is from JB, one of our naturalists today.

On the way home we stopped at Whale Rocks to watch about 75 Harbor Seals basking in the sun. Beautiful!

August 31, 2006

The last week we have had some really interesting whale watching and wildlife trips. All three pods of resident Orca Whales came back into the Salish Sea on the 25th giving us some wonderful encounters. We have also had numerous sightings of Transient Orcas popping up here and there. The last two days we didn't have any Orca sightings in the area, but we did have some great wildlife trips and even saw a Stellar Sea Lion. The Stellars should start showing up in numbers any day now. I always love it when they start coming back for the fall. Stellar Sea Lions are the largest Sea Lion in the world, averaging 12 ft long and over 2000 lbs. They are often called the Grizzlies of the sea. Very impressive animals.

Today we received a report of a group of Transient Orcas heading west towards Victoria. It was a long run, but the sun was shining, the water was smooth, and I just couldn't help going for it. It turned out to be quite a day. I always say that you never know what will show up or how things will work out. Well, much to our surprise a Humpback whale was found only about a mile from the Orcas. We got to check out the Humpback first, being treated to several beautiful fluke shots, and then hung out with the group of Orcas just to the north. We rarely see Transient Orcas and see Humpbacks even less frequently. So to see both on the same day so close together was truly special.

I also just received a report from a friend of mine that the resident pods were seen out in the Strait of Juan De Fuca this afternoon heading this way. Hopefully they will be here tomorrow.

August 24, 2006

For the last couple of days our resident Orca Whales have been out of the area. However, we have had some wonderful wildlife trips with Harbor Porpoises (including some close encounters with calves), Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and some really interesting encounters with some of the exotic land animals on Speiden Island. The weather has been very cooperative as well and the islands are as beautiful as ever.

Today was a truly unique experience. I received a report that a group of Transient Orcas (mammal feeding Orcas) was coming south in the Canadian Gulf Islands. They were out of our range when I received the report, but were heading our way, at least for the moment. You never can tell what Transient Orcas will do. They are very stealthy and unpredictable. Characteristics that assist them in their hunt for food.

When we left the dock I wasn't really sure if we would be able to catch up with these guys or not, but I figured we would at least take our best shot. I sped north from San Juan Island at about 20 knots hoping things would work out.

As it turned out, they split into two groups, with one group heading north out of our range and another group heading south towards us. Lucky us! We caught up with about 6 whales and were in for an awesome encounter. We had some beautiful looks at them and even got to see them make two Harbor Seal kills. We don't get to see Transients very often so it is always special when they show up. It is really interesting to observe how different they act from the Resident Orcas (fish feeding) that we normally see. They are both part of the same species, but act and feed very differently. The best analogy is the different customs and eating habits of the various human populations around the world. In fact, Orcas are one of the few animals in which culture is recognized by scientists.

I also received a report in the afternoon that our Resident Orcas were heading back in from the Pacific Ocean towards the San Juan Islands. Hopefully there will be enough Salmon around to keep them nearby for a while. We will see.

August 20, 2006

Well, today was my first official day back on the boat after a week off with my wife and our brand new baby boy, Brendan. A big thanks to Captain Bob for running the boat while I was away. Bob and his wife were the original owners of Western Prince and did a great job in my absence.

We had just about a perfect whale watching trip today with beautiful weather, lots of wildlife sightings on the way out and a wonderful visit with all three pods of Orcas. We think we even caught a glimpse of the new K pod baby, who is just 1 week old.

Here are several great reports from our naturalists Nan and JB who were on the boat this past week:

August 20

We had a great day with all three pods as they passed Turn Point heading south. Most of the whales were in groups spread out over a mile or so wide and long, which meant that no matter where you looked, you saw whales somewhere on the horizon. One of the first whales we saw appeared to be K22, but she was backlit so I couldn't be sure.  I do know I saw a very very small baby orca traveling nearby other K whales, so the crew naturally was quite excited!  The whales must have been in high spirits as there were dozens of breaches, tail lobs, and I saw my first 5 second headstand today!  Great and plentiful vocalizations as the whales unhurriedly meandered south towards Henry Island. While waiting for whales, we even were surprised by 3 Dall's porpoise who rocketed by the boat, as if trying to stay out of the way of the whales!

John Boyd (JB), Marine Naturalist, Western Prince
Friday Harbor

August 19, 10 AM trip

Another fantastic summer day here in the San Juan Islands! Wow. The sunshine was bright, the sea calm, and a light breeze swept across the water.  We left the dock at about 10:15 with a report of the Southern Resident whales on the west side of the island.  After four days with no resident Orca sightings we were eager to get out and see "who" was there!  We wasted no time in heading directly for Haro Strait, anxious to see the "residents" again.

We went south in San Juan Channel and through Cattle Pass, rounded the point and headed north up the island. At Eagle Point we found three adult orca, two males from L pod, traveling north, and stopping to forage.  We had a nice pass by Nyssa, L-84 and L-74, Saanich.  They were in no hurry, although we heard the "rest" of the whales were already further up north along the island.  We had a nice view of these whales, and left them to feed.  We proceeded further up Haro Strait, still in relatively flat seas and as one passenger said, "Not a cloud in the sky!"  The Olympic Mountains were doing their majestic thing, several tankers were headed in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and up the shipping lanes, and many sport fishing boats lined the San Juan shore.  We came across more whales, who were definitely in a traveling mode.  We were able to parallel them moving along at 5.2k, for at least 40 minutes.  There were several breaches and a tail slap or two.  I sensed that there were many more whales around us, but they were very spread out across Haro Strait and to the north.

We wound up circumnavigating the entire island today as when our time with the whales was over, we were already at Limekiln Lighthouse. We did get to stop at Spieden Island on our way home and found several male Fallow Deer in the trees, and the Mouflon Rams on Green Point.

Our return trip down San Juan Channel was once again in smooth water with a gentle breeze! Ahhh, summer time in the San Juans!

Nan Simpson, Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

August 18

After preparing ourselves for a trip with a high likely hood of wonderful wildlife, but no orcas, we heard there was a group of transients at the south end of Lopez, maybe around Iceberg Point.

At 2:50 p.m. we found a group of four transients three miles west of Cattle Point in Haro Strait moving west slowly. There was an adult male, adult female and two juveniles. It was a beautiful and sunny day with almost flat water out in the strait, so viewing these magnificent animals was a real treat. Our our way back into Cattle Pass another group of four or five transients appeared in front of us. This family traveled up the shore of Lopez, right past Shark Reef (with a mom and baby harbor seal sitting on the reef watching them!) and then they cut across San Juan Channel, and started hunting; in and out of each little bay on the east shore of San Juan Island. They split up and two took one side of a rocky outcropping, and two took the other. Sometimes one adult would cut back in the opposite direction, and three would swim closer to the next rock with maybe 10 - 15 seals gathered on the end of the rock! Everyone was waiting to see if a seal would disappear, but the whales kept moving, then regrouping, and then moving on and doing the same thing over again. The blows of these mature animals were quite dramatic and very visible over the water on such a bright day. Then the adult male with this group did a huge spy hop, right by Turn Island and at the same time one of the other adults did a beautiful breach! The group; then formed up again, crossed to Turn Island Rock and light, swam a few circles around the light and suddenly headed off down Upright Channel toward Canoe Island.

What an afternoon for us! Two groups of transients on one day! After a few days with no whale sightings, this was really a bonus trip!

Nan Simpson, Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

August 17

We left the dock at 2:00 p.m. today and headed north.  There had been no sightings of our southern resident whales now for three days.  We embarked on one of our great wildlife trips, keeping a close ear to the sighting reports and as always, scanning the water for whatever we might come across.  Just as we rounded Point Caution we spotted a majestic adult bald eagle sitting high on a bare snag at the top of the tree line!  No doubt this eagle was taking advantage of this perch to search the water for his or her next meal.

We headed north up San Juan Channel in a light southerly breeze with only a ripple on the surface of the water.  We were able to stop by Yellow Island and see the beautiful little island, now part of the Nature Conservancy.  There were several harbor seals on the reef there.  Just as we were looking at the island, we noticed the Adventuress, a 120 foot gaff rigged schooner, in full sail coming down the channel.  Our captain was able to parallel this magnificent ship for a good look at her, and several folks got excellent photos!

We headed over to O'Neil Island near the eastern shore of San Juan Island to check out the eagle's nest there.  No one home.  The youngster has successfully fledged and there was no sign of the adult bald eagle pair either.

Our next destination was Little Cactus Island where we saw a beautiful adult bald eagle high on a shore side evergreen tree.  Again the nest was empty, so another fledging "fledged"!  The current was really running through the bull kelp along the shoreline here.  From this point we wound our way through John's Pass between John's Island and Stuart Island and out into Boundary Pass.  As we got into Haro Strait and the tide rips we were able to find several groups of Dall's Porpoise swimming speedily through the bouncing rips.  They were foraging and that meant a lot of quick dives and surfacing in unexpected places.  These are the fastest cetaceans in the ocean, and a "distant cousin" of the Orca.

Then it was down the western shore of Stuart Island, and around to Spieden Island on our way home.  We did spot some Mouflon rams on Spieden and also some harbor seals perched on the steep rocky shores.

Our trip ended with a smooth trip down San Juan Channel, heading back to the Port of Friday Harbor.  It was a wonderful warm sunny day on the water!

Nan Simpson, Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

August 12, 2006

This morning we got the report that J pod, K pod, and most of L pod were heading towards East Point (Saturna Island), which is north of the San Juan Islands. What an amazing morning. The weather was nice and warm and the water was smooth and glassy. On the way north we found a group of about 6 Harbor Porpoises, which we watched as they "puffed" at the surface in synchronization. We caught up with the Orca whales in Boundary Pass and had a wonderful encounter with them. We even got to see one of the new babies and were treated to some really nice vocalizations.

On the way home I cut through some of the smaller islands to look for Bald Eagles and Harbor Seals. We found 4 great Harbor Seal haul outs with about 20-30 seals on each rock. On Spieden Island we found some of the beautiful Big Horn Sheep and exotic deer walking along the shoreline nibbling on seaweed. As we were checking out the sheep and deer I noticed a large group of birds up ahead. It turned out to be 7 Turkey Vultures and 1 Bald Eagle picking apart what was left of a small animal on the beach. Awesome!

By this afternoon all three pods had made it down to the west side of San Juan Island. So we headed south to catch up with them. On the way out we stopped at Goose Island to check out the Cormorant nests piled up on the rocks near the water. They almost look like little bird condos, with an ocean view of course.

By the time we caught up with the whales they were heading offshore. We found them spread out over about 4 miles in small groups. We had some beautiful passes from parts of J pod and L pod, including J1 (Ruffles). The whales were very energetic this afternoon. At one point we had a group of about 5 whales doing "tail lobs" and breaches one after the other.

August 11, 2006

We had two wonderful whale watching/wildlife trips today, both of them private charters. Many of the whales were way up at the Frasier River by Vancouver, Canada. But fortunately for us, the L12s (a subgroup of L pod) were hanging around the south end of San Juan Island and Lopez Island. We had great encounters with them on both tours. We also had some really nice Bald Eagle and Harbor Seals sightings.

JB, one of our naturalists, was on board today. He always has such a colorful way of reporting about our trips, so I thought I would include his report today.

OK, for today's whale report, you'll need your blackboard and some chalk.  Now draw the San Juan Islands in the middle.  So last night, we had all three pods spread out from Open Bay to False Bay.  Now draw a line up to Active Pass and label it J's, K's, and L's.  But wait, draw a line from Kellett Bluff to False Bay and label that one part of L-12's.  Now you are ready for today's report!  Draw a line from the L12's at False Bay, go back and forth a half dozen times between Pile Point and Eagle Point....then have that line go East past Lopez Island, and start heading slightly north up Rosario.  Wait!  Now draw a few meandering circles and now head towards Whidbey.  Pick up your chalk and now go back up to the Frasier River where we left the J's, K's and most of L's.  Draw them coming towards Point Roberts.  Knowing their patterns in the past, you'd assume that you'd draw that line all the way to the San Juans, right?  STOP!  Draw that line back towards the River.  Confused yet?  It gets better.
Now put an X southeast of Cattle Pass.  Mark that X as a minke whale.  Draw a meandering circle and you've got that pattern.  More you ask?  OK.
Add a G for Gray whale several miles south of False Bay.  Make it a small g as the gray was only about 10 feet long (so be careful out there!)  We only heard the reports of the whale on the radio from boats on the scene.  There is concern about the well-being of the little guy.
Now that your chalk talk is done, break on three.....ready, and BREAK!

John Boyd (JB) Marine Naturalist, Western Prince, Friday Harbor

August 10, 2006

This has been an interesting week.

Last weekend we had all three pods around San Juan Island. The Orcas have been around an unprecedented amount of time this summer. But it is only a matter of time when the whales will have to head out in search of food. It seems like there has been a lot of Salmon around so far this summer. However, last Sunday the commercial Salmon fishing season opened up. The preliminary reports from the fishing boats was pretty bleak. Not much around to be caught. And, sure enough, the whales headed out west towards the Pacific Ocean.

The past three days our trips have been focused more on the other great wildlife in the area. We have had some fantastic porpoise sightings, sometimes having them come up all around the boat. We often get a much closer look at porpoises then we do whales. The Bald Eagles have been amazing. A couple of times we've been able to watch as two eagles fought over a meal. We are seeing lots of adorable Harbor Seal pups swimming around the rocks and reefs. The exotic animals on Spieden Island have been out in full force as well, with lots of sightings of the Big Horn sheep from Corsica and beautiful male European Fallow Deer with full antlers. Pretty soon the Stellar Sea Lions will start showing up again.

This afternoon we received a report of all three pods heading back into the area. They were way out west of Victoria, Canada when we left the dock, out of our normal range. However, I just couldn't resist going for it. It was a long run and I burned a lot of fuel, but it was worth it. We ended up with a beautiful view of Victoria and a great encounter with the Orcas. When we found them they were in large groups of about 15-20, in what seemed to be a resting pattern. This is one of the most beautiful sights. The whole group will rise up almost simultaneously to take a breath and then slide beneath the surface again. The whole time the whales are traveling in close contact with each other so that you see 15-20 fins in a tight bunch. Beautiful! Hopefully their return signals another run of Salmon that will keep them around the islands for a while.

August 4, 2006

Two great whale watching/wildlife trips today with all three pods! The morning trip was nice and close, just to the north end of San Juan Island. When we left the dock for the second trip I wasn't positive we were going to be able to see the whales. They were heading quickly north towards the Frasier river. But, I burned a lot of fuel, took a short cut, and we ended up having a spectacular trip.

Here is another guest report from JB, one of our naturalists today:

Somedays it's a matter of luck, somedays a matter of timing, today was a combination of both!  We had all 3 pods on the west side of San Juan during the morning, but by afternoon, they were in Swanson Channel making tracks for Active Pass.  So we made the decision to go to the east side of Active Pass and wait for the whales to emerge.  And the timing was perfect!  As we sat waiting, one ferry entered the pass while another exited, with whales right in his wake!  They were very active, porpoising and getting a ride in his prop wash.  Then it was as I described to our passengers---"get ready for school to let out...."  As all three pods exited Active Pass, they began to put on an aerial display, with dozens of single breaches, and a half dozen double breaches, multiple spyhops, one double spyhop, and one breach combined with a nearby whale spyhopping.  J-1 Ruffles did a lot of foraging behaviors with multiple quick direction changes, J-26 Mike did some huge belly breaches, and J27 Blackberry did some more distant breaches.  It made me smile to see so much active behaviors, and I can only infer that life was good for the whales at that moment.  As we left, we heard whales were spreading out, some going further east towards the river, and J's heading south towards Pt. Roberts.

John Boyd (JB) Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

August 3, 2006

Today we caught up with J pod just north of the island as they were heading north towards the Canadian Gulf Islands. The weather was great again and we had a beautiful encounter with J14 (Sammish) and her family. Great vocalizations and several nice breaches.

On the way home we stopped to look at a wonderful Harbor Seal haul out and some beautiful Mouflan Big Horn Sheep (from Corsica). We also stopped to check out one of the fledgling Bald Eagles on a nearby nest. This one should be flying any day now. Pretty cool stuff.

August 2, 2006

Gorgeous day today! The sun was shining and the weather was nice and calm.

I always say that just when you start to think that you know the whale's patterns, they change them on you. Today was one of those days. This morning J pod was coming down towards East Point (just north of the San Juan Islands) and K & L pods were on the southwest side of San Juan. I thought to myself how nice it would be to have a choice this afternoon. Normally at least one of these groups would be close under these circumstances.

Well, the whales had other ideas. J pod turned around and headed back towards the Frasier River and the other guys started heading off shore quickly towards the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

K pod and L pod were pretty far away when we left the dock and were still heading away from us. But the weather was calm, we had a great group of people on board, and I just couldn't resist making a run for it. And boy did we run. We ran almost to Port Angeles, which is on the Olympic Peninsula. This is the farthest southwest I have ever been, but it was worth it. We had a fantastic encounter with K pod. At one point K14 (Lea) and her offspring K36 (Yoda, obviously named by a Star Wars fan) came right by the boat. It was so beautiful watching them swim side by side just under the surface as they rose up to catch a breath of air, before disappearing beyond us.

You never know how the day will turn out.

August 1, 2006

Two great trips today.

This morning we had a great encounter with two L pod whales, L22 (Spirit) and L85 (Mystery) near False Bay. Lucky for us that they were around because the rest of the whales were way out west of Victoria, BC. We also found two Stellar Sea Lions over by Whale Rocks! Stellar Sea Lions are the largest sea lion in the world, averaging 12 feet long and 2000 lbs. They are often called the Grizzlies of the sea. It is way early for these guys to be here. Hopefully we will start seeing them more often in the next month.

This afternoon J pod, K pod, and most of L pod were heading in towards San Juan Island and the two L pod whales from this morning were still at the south end. L22 and L85 were much closer to us, so we headed down to the bottom of the island to check them out. Minutes after we arrived we were treated to two beautiful breaches by L85 right in front of us. Awesome! Meanwhile, I was checking on the progress of the other whales. They were heading in pretty quickly. So, even though we were already having a great trip, I decided to go ahead and run out to meet the other whales. We cruised off shore for a while and eventually met up with K pod and some of L pod porpoising towards us. We hung out with a group of about 15 whales, including a couple of adorable babies, cruising along at about 10 kts. Its amazing how quickly these guys can swim when they want to. We had some great spy hops, tail slaps, and breaches. Definitely, worth the extra time.

July 30, 2006

Another wonderful week of whale watching in the San Juans! I have been hearing good things about the number Chinook salmon in the area this year. Chinook is the primary prey of the resident Orcas and big runs are probably the reason that our pods have been around the islands so much this summer. This is good news for the health and survival of the whales and good news for those of us who love watching and learning about them.

Today we had two trips. The weather was unseasonably wet and it seemed to keep some people away. Boy did they miss out. We had two of the best trips of the season!

This morning we headed south down San Juan Channel to meet up with all three pods of resident Orcas (about 89 whales). On the way down we stopped to check out Whale Rocks, which had about 100 harbor seals hauled out. Then we headed over to Long Island to check out the Bald Eagle's nest and found the fledgling eagle on a branch a few feet from the nest. As we were sitting there it spread its wings and hopped back into the nest. It should be flying any day now.

We then headed to the south end of Lopez Island to catch up with the whales. Perfect timing. Just as I pulled the boat off shore and shut down the engines the whales started swimming by. We were treated to a beautiful parade of wild Orcas. As we were watching, a young male came up and did a spyhop breach kind of lunge, while at the same time blowing air through its blow hole just under the water. It's hard to explain exactly what he did, but it was one of the most interesting behaviors I have ever seen. We were also treated to a wonderful view of several babies traveling along with the group. It always feels so special to see these little guys in the wild. What a fantastic trip!

This afternoon the whales were heading north up the west side of San Juan Island when we left the dock. We ran up and around the top of the island to meet them on the other side.

Just as we came into view of the Orcas, they turned around and started heading south. As we headed down to catch up with them, the water started getting pretty rough due to some tidal action. Fortunately, we had a great group of passengers on board today and, as always, the "Western Prince II" handled the waves beautifully. I am always happy to have such a stout boat under my feet. Of course, as soon as we caught up with the leading group of whales, they turned around and headed north again. Basically, they had found some salmon and were just foraging back and forth over a large area. I always find that the more patient I am the better the trip is. So I turned the boat around and started heading north, biding my time until we could get a good look at these guys.

As we headed back north, the tide began to change and the weather calmed down significantly. We made our way slowly into the calmer water as we started seeing more and more of the beautiful black and white bodies slicing through the water just inshore of us. At one point we were treated to an unusually close encounter with K21 (Cappuccino) and K40 (Raggedy), who had turned sharply to go after some salmon. As we sat there with the engines off watching these powerful animals dive and lunge, I put the hydrophone in the water to see what we could hear. Lots of great vocalizing and echo location clicks! As we ran back to Friday Harbor, in what was now slick calm water, I remarked to JB and Chris how it truly is an adventure out here and you never know what the day will bring.

Here is another great report from JB, one of our naturalists, from our Friday tour.

Well, as I said earlier, this year is proving to be the year of whales doing things differently.  Seems like J-Pod goes to the Frasier River, and then makes a loop around the San Juans---sometimes clockwise, sometimes counter-clockwise.  This morning, they decided that going South from the river was too normal, so they went North!  So we thought we'd be whale-less today, but then having had their trip north, J's came back down Georgia Strait and headed directly for Eastpoint. Not many boats on the water today, so most everyone was fairly spread out.  The whales were porpoising as they approached the point, and when they were inside of Boiling Reef, we saw many breaches, tail slaps, and other percussives.  The whales were bucking a pretty strong flood tide, but still were managing to make 3-5 knot headway.  We left the whales still passing Eastpoint heading towards Turn Point. 

John Boyd (JB), Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

July 23, 2006

This past week has been spectacular! The weather has been beautiful. The Orca Whales have been around every trip, the fledgling Bald Eagles are edging closer towards flight, and the adorable Harbor Seal pups are getting ready to wean.

These are the days I love to be on the water and love to share this wonderful place with our guests.

Here are a couple highlights from the past weeK:

On Thursday we found K pod at the south end of San Juan Island, spread out, and foraging through the mirror-like water. I situated ourselves away from the rest of the boats with a group of three females: K7 (Lummi, the oldest whale in this population at 96 years), K11 (Georgia, Lummi's daughter), and K13 (Skagit, Georgia's daughter). At one point they had just gone down for a long dive when Nan, our naturalist, noticed a huge salmon speed past the bow of our boat. Everyone was looking at the where the salmon went when I noticed that one of the whales had made a 90 degree turn and was heading right for the boat. She slid easily beneath the water and under the bow of the boat, swimming at an amazing speed. Next thing we know, the other two are following her, all three chasing after the salmon that surely met its demise. What a truly special experience to view these beautiful animals hunting in the wild.

And here is a truly inspired report from JB, our naturalist on the boat with me today:

You'd think after 10 years of watching resident Orcas, that I would have seen it all, or maybe lost a bit of the thrill of seeing orcas.  Well, if you thought that----you'd be wrong!  Today was a truly special and amazing day.  The morning had all 3 pods (can you say SUPER POD?) coming in from Victoria towards False Bay.   Clumps of whales scattered about, doing a bit of fishing, a bit of socializing, and a lot of carousing!  We traveled with a good portion of K's as they traveled by themselves.  A beautiful, slow, hanging spyhop left everyone stunned.  The whales weren't in a hurry, and it made for a relaxing start of the day.

Things got even more interesting in the afternoon as we encountered a mixture of J's, K's, and L's north of Kellett Bluff. First a nice pass with J27 Blackberry leisurely searching the incoming flood for fish.  A nice treat of having J11 and J39 mixing it up and being rambunctuous as the little guy rolled over mom's back, did a few small spyhops, but really raised the gooseflesh when he stopped, turned towards the boat, and did a beautiful, long vocalization.  Sounded like a nice little improvised riff.  That ending would have been nice, but we were in for a rare treat. 

We were off to ourselves when L79 Skana showed up and began to forage back and forth, spinning in a tighter circle until he popped his head up and showed off his prize of a huge salmon!  A few seconds later, all that was showing out of his mouth was a big tail, and the gulp! It was gone.  He then did 3 amazing belly-flop breaches!  This seemed to signal the other whales that food was out as they began to porpoise towards him, passing in 2 huge groups about 150 yards from our stern.  Tons of vocalizations, more belly-flop breaches, tail slaps, a few small spyhops by the youngsters, and the "parade" passed us by, leaving 30 passengers cheering, and a crew stunned at the beauty of the day. 
Sorry if this is a tad long, but it was a truly special day and my words don't do the majesty the justice the day deserves.

John Boyd (JB), Marine Naturalist, Western Prince
Friday Harbor

July 16, 2006

Great weather, great whale watching and wildlife viewing here in the San Juan Islands the last few days. Who could ask for more?

Friday we had a Minke whale (small baleen whale) pop up in the middle of L pod. What a surprise. If these were transient Orcas they would have tried to make lunch out of the Minke, yet the Minke seemed to know the difference and was quite content to travel along with the Orcas for almost 20 minutes. I have only seen this about 3 times.

Yesterday we had a wonderful visit with J pod and K pod in the morning just north of San Juan but had to run all the way up to Active Pass (about 27 miles) to catch up with them in the afternoon. It was well worth the long run though. At the mouth of Active Pass there was a standing set of waves created by the rushing current. We were getting ready to head back, but I just had to wait and see what would happen when the whales went through the waves. Wow! What a sight watching them almost surf through the waves. At one point we saw a baby go tail over head into one. It looked like the whales were having tons of fun.

Today J pod and K pod were still hanging out together heading West towards Victoria BC. It was a bit of a run getting out there and it looked like the whales were heading towards the open ocean. Fortunately for us they decided to turn around and head back towards San Juan Island. They always seem to keep us guessing. They must be getting a lot to eat around here because they have been around the islands an unprecedented amount of time this summer. We had a great visit with J1 (Ruffles) and K21 (Cappuccino) and their family groups. On the way home we stopped at Long Island to check out the Bald Eagle's nest. The fledgling in the nest is definitely getting bolder. Today it was spreading its wings and hopping around the nest. Any day now we will see it flying around with its parents.

July 12, 2006

The past few days we have been spending a lot of time with K pod and their brand new calf K39. They seem to be finding a lot of fish on the west side of San Juan Island, which is great for us too.

Today the weather was supposed to be a bit rough and rainy. We reduced our passenger count to 24 passengers to ensure a comfortable ride for everyone and departed Friday Harbor with a hardy group ready for a little adventure. It looked like an interesting day with J pod up north, K pod down south, and some of L pod out west.

We headed south to catch up with K pod. We found them heading down the island near Eagle Point. What a beautiful day it ended up being. We did get some rain from time to time, but it turned out to be flat calm and the whales looked so wonderful gliding through the silvery water. We had the truly unique experience, at least for July, of being the only boat with them for quite a while as well. The other whale watching boats were with the other pods and the private boats weren't out on the water because of the weather forecast. There is definitely something special about being alone with the whales.

The photo to the right was taken by our intern Francesca today. Beautiful shot!

July 8, 2006

Our beautiful July weather is back, after a short hiatus. The past couple of days have been clear and sunny, with calm, almost lake like water. We even caught a view of Mt. Rainier yesterday.

Today we caught up with K pod just north of San Juan Island. The pod was spread out into several small groups. So, we were able to just shut down and drift as we watched the Orcas pass by. The highlight of today was seeing a small group of about 7 whales go by with the new K pod baby (k39). Every so often they would stop swimming forward and start playing with the baby. We saw several beautiful spy hops and watched as one of the females pushed the baby up on its rostrum while the baby lay on its back. All the other whales, meanwhile, were rolling around in the water all around them. It was a truly special moment to witness. This is a young baby and we hope to see it for a long time to come. Of course that will depend on the amount of Salmon available for its mother.

On the way home we found 2 mature Bald Eagles around a nest on Spieden Island and a beautiful fledgling eagle in the nest. Awesome! We also found a wonderful group of Mouflan big horn rams (from Corsica) on the Eastern tip of the island. I always love showing people these animals, as they seem so out of place in the Northwest.

July 5, 2006

The past week of whale watching here in the San Juan Islands has been phenomenal! We now have all three pods of resident Orca whales hanging around the islands. These whales can travel up to 100 miles in a day and don't spend 100% of their time in the islands. But lately, it seems like when one pod is gone another one is around. We have been very fortunate indeed.

Today we headed south from Friday Harbor to catch up with a subgroup of L pod in the bottom of Haro Strait. It was a bit choppy today, but we had a great group of hardy passengers aboard. We spent most of our time idling along with the whales, watching two big "sprouters" (young males) glide through the choppy water. Beautiful! When whales are traveling like this they often will not vocalize, but today we were treated to some wonderful whale calls on the hydrophone as well.

On the way home we stopped at Whale Rocks to check out about 50 Harbor Seals hauled out, and also had a few curious seals pop their heads up in a nearby kelp bed to take a look at us. We then headed over to Long Island to check out a Bald Eagle's nest. The fledgling eagle in the nest looks like it should be getting ready to fly any day now. What a special experience it is to see these eagles raise their young.

June 29, 2006

The last few days we have had some wonderful encounters with J pod, Eagles, Seals and Porpoises. I always say that every day is an adventure and that you never know how the trip is going to go. All of are trips are special, even when the whales aren't around, but today truly was an adventure, one that I will always remember.

I am always in awe of the beauty and peacefulness of these wonderful animals (Orca whales) when we encounter them on our trips.  But today was something really special.  The experience we had is hard to put into words, but I will try. 

We left the dock today with J pod at the south end of Lopez Island coming West and L pod milling on the West side of San Juan Island, where they had been since this morning.  I mentioned to Nan (our Naturalist) how it would be really nice if we got to see them get together today, but figured it was only a slight possibility.

We ended up finding J pod off of Iceberg Point, where they had slowed down and were doing some foraging.  We got a wonderful look at J19 and her baby J41, as well as J1 (Ruffles), L57 (Faith) and others.  We watched for a while as they glided by us through the calm water.  Beautiful!  We were just getting ready to start heading back to Friday Harbor when I heard a boat with L pod say they were porpoising towards us from off Eagle Point.  Just at about the same time I noticed the whales we were watching begin to porpoise towards L pod.  I couldn't leave yet.

We traveled offshore of J pod until they reached Salmon Bank.  Then the L pod fins started appearing from the other direction as we were treated to a couple of great breaches.  I set up, with a couple of other boats, offshore of the whales at about 300 yards, shut down, and put the hydrophone in.  The symphony of vocalizations were spectacular.  Their level of communication always amazes me.  We started to see them group up; 5 whales, 10 whales, 20 whales at a time and then split off into smaller groups, only to come back together, going every direction.  Before we could relocate, we found ourselves with whales all around us.  They were everywhere, frolicking in tight groups of 10 to 15 whales.  I try not to apply human emotions to these beautiful animals.  But I have to say that they just seemed so happy, peaceful, and affectionate towards each other.

We had been with them for about 15 minutes or so when the flood tide began sucking us towards Cattle Pass.  I figured that we would simply drift off and the whales would go about their business out at Salmon Bank as we headed back home.  The whales had other plans.  Every time I was getting ready to start my engines whales would pop up nearby, still socializing with each other.  Next thing I know we are drifting through Cattle Pass at 5.5 Kts and the whales are staying right with us.  It was amazing to see them so effortlessly navigate through the roaring current as we bobbed and spun like corks on the surface.  Finally, about 2 miles up San Juan Channel the whales started to group up in the middle and we started to drift to the East side.  As I brought the boat around and headed home we could still see them breaching and socializing, as if they hadn't a care in the world.

We were truly blessed an honored to behold this encounter today.  It is a day my passengers and I will always remember.  These animals are truly special.  Lets all keep doing all that we can to protect their environment and keep them around for a long time to come.

Also, a special thanks to Carolyn from Seattle who has been out with us 5 times. Glad we could have such a wonderful trip for you.

June 25, 2006

This past week was terrific!

The weather has been gorgeous, especially the last couple of days, and the whale watching and wildlife viewing have been awesome. I have had to run some long trips to see the Orcas, but it has been well worth it. The new engines I put in the boat sure have come in handy this week and we were fortunate enough to see Orcas Whales on every one of our trips.

We are also starting to see some fledgling Bald Eagles in some of the nests nearby. It always amazes me how much wildlife we have in the San Juan Islands. It is truly a special place.

Today we had two wonderful trips. This morning on our private charter it didn't look like we were going to be able to see the whales, as they were way up north near Vancouver, BC. We were in the middle of a great wildlife tour, looking at Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and Dall's Porpoises, when I got a call from a captain up north. J pod had just turned was was heading towards us at high speed. They were still a long way away, and I wasn't positive that they would come down fare enough, but I just couldn't resist the temptation to go see them. We ended up only having about 15 minutes with the whales and came back late. But it was worth it. It was the cherry on top of an already great tour.

Here is a guest report from one of our Naturalists, JB, from today:

"Oh man, I love my job!  This morning we had the opportunity to take a family reunion out to watch our wildlife.  Around 11:45 , we heard on the radio that J-Pod had decided to really move across Georgia Strait and was making a beeline for East Point at about 10 knots.  So we headed up Boundary and found them about 1 mile east of East Point, and boy were they in a mood to play!  Multiple breaches, spyhops, and probably the most amazing cartwheel I've ever seen (so energetic the whale came completely out of the water!)

For the afternoon trip, J's were still in Boundary Pass, having slowed up considerably.   As they made the turn at Turn Point , the whales got quite frisky again as they entered the "washing machine" of converging currents and went into multiple breach mode once again.  And it appears that L-57 is still hanging out with the J's as he was the only L-Pod whale we observed.  It was very interesting to observe the whales behavior as they continued heading south in Haro as a large tug hauling trees headed straight into the whales---several whales began breaching by the tug, others tail slapped.   Great day indeed. "

John Boyd (JB), Marine Naturalist

June 18, 2006

Another great week in the San Juan Islands.

The Orcas have been around the islands everyday, except once, this past week and we have had some wonderful encounters with Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Porpoises, and lots of interesting Sea Birds. There were a few days when I had to make some extra long runs to see the Orcas. It's been great having the new engines in the boat to give us the flexibility that we needed on those days.

K pod showed up this week for the first time of the season. Yeah! The big news is that there is confirmation of a new baby in L pod and in K pod. We all hope that these babies will stay healthy and happy. I can tell you that J pod has been very active lately, hopefully indicating that they are well fed and happy.

Below is a trip report from Thursday by one of our naturalists, Nan, and a photo of J2 (Granny) that I took in the afternoon. That afternoon was one of the most beautiful and peaceful experiences I have had on the water.

"We had two great trips today, both times to view J - Pod. This morning we found them at 11:30 south of Cherry Point, heading south. Ruffles and Granny were in the lead and moving south. The whales were fairly spread out, and moving south in groups. We were back again with an afternoon trip and found J - Pod about 3:20, now turned and headed north off Lummi Island. There were lots of spy hops, breaches, and tail slaps this afternoon. The water turned very flat and calm, and my favorite part was watching as they did what I call "the J Line Up" and started swimming faster still going north. We watched a long time as more and more whales came together and then finally, a line of fins and mist disappearing to the north. We turned for home about 4:40 p.m."

Nan Simpson, Marine Naturalist

June 11, 2006

The last week has been amazing.

We saw J pod everyday except for one, and that day we had a truly unique experience with some Transient Orcas (mammal feeding).

We have also had some great Bald Eagle sightings. One day we had about 15 eagles all in one area. Awesome!

The last couple of days the whales have been extremely active. We have been seeing lots of breaches, cartwheels, spy hops, tail slaps, and general goofing off. It is so great to see the whales apparently so happy and healthy. Here are a couple of great photos that one of our passengers, Lynndon Heywood, took yesterday.

June 6, 2006

Another beautiful day in the San Juans. Summer is really starting to show. Calm water, warm weather, and clear skies.

Today we caught up with J pod in Rosario Strait and had a wonderful encounter. They were traveling south and spread out when we first sighted their glistening black dorsal fins. Soon the Orcas started grouping up and traveling together. Along the way we were treated to several great breaches and spy hops (like the one to the left that our passenger Tina Zychowicz sent us from today). The really amazing part of the trip, however, was right at the end. J pod was heading near a kelp covered reef in a tight group. I moved the boat down and positioned us just on the other side of the reef and clear of the Orcas path of travel. The whales came in very close to the kelp, some of them moving directly through it. What a beautiful sight. Then as they passed the reef the fireworks started. We must have seen almost 10 breaches and cartwheels. I always wonder what goes through their minds at times like this. They just seem like they are really enjoying themselves.

A truly special day! It is always such a privilege to see these wonderful animals in the wild.

June 3, 2006

Our whale watching trip today took us north of San Juan Island out into Haro Strait. This truly was one of the most beautiful days of the season so far. Calm mirror like water, blue skies, and the sun shining brightly.

On the way up we stopped near Yellow Island at a wonderful Harbor Seal haul out with about 50 seals, and found 3 Bald Eagles and about 6 Turkey Vultures eating a deer carcass on Spieden Island.

We had a beautiful encounter with J-pod today. They were in 2 large groups, traveling slowly through the calm water of Haro Strait. The whales were tightly grouped up, so that we would see 7 to 10 fins all rise up at about the same time, hearing all of their breaths as they arched through the water. As they went by a small baby breached and we saw a beautiful spy hop. Gorgeous!

Today was so nice I had a hard time turning the boat around to come home.

June 1, 2006

Today I thought it would be nice to include a report from our naturalist Nan. Here it is:

"We spent the afternoon with J - Pod once again!  Today they were headed south in Rosario at 1:00 p.m. . with once again very relaxed traveling behavior, and occasional quick turns and dives.   They were very spread out, with J-1 way across the strait.  Both J-27 and J-26 
were showing off their sprouting (and tall!) dorsals .  J-1 gave us the pleasure of a slow spy hop.  Wow!  By 2:40 they were starting to turn on a little steam, and grouping up heading for the south end of Lopez Island.  

The water was very flat today, with lots of low clouds, mist, and fog in the distance.  Magical. "

Nan Simpson, Marine Naturalist

May 30, 2006

This past week was awesome for whale watching in the San Juan Islands. J-pod was around every day! We have had some wonderful encounters with the Orcas, Eagles, Seals, Porpoises and Sea Birds. One day we even had a Minke whale swimming with a coulple of female Orcas.

Today, J-pod was on the west side of San Juan Island, L-pod was coming in from the Pacific Ocean, and K-pod (our first sighting) was up at the Fraser river. Soon we will be seeing super pod days, when all three pods (almost 90 whales) come together. What a day! Beautiful, calm water and sunny weather.

May 22, 2006

The last few days have been great! J-pod has been hanging around San Juan Island quite a bit lately and we have had some wonderful encounters. Hopefully this means that there is enough salmon around now to keep them in our waters for the summer.

Also, the big news of the day is that L-pod just showed up! We alsways anxiously await the first sightings of each pod. The Center for Whale Research will do a survey on the whales to see if all of them made it through the winter. We should know in the next week how things look. The great news is that already there is an unconfirmed report of a new baby.

It's really turning out to be a great May!

May 18, 2006

Today we had a great day of Orca whale watching on the west side of San Juan Island.

I received a report from a friend of mine early this morning that J pod was heading north up the west side of the island. The whales continued north of San Juan Island up into Canadian waters. Then, just before we left Friday Harbor, they turned south.

We ran up north and west around the top of the island. By the time we got to the north end I heard that the whales were catching the ebb tide quickly south down the west side. We made the turn around Battleship Island and began heading towards the west side of San Juan, when all of a sudden 4 Orcas popped up in Haro Strait about a 1/4 mile away. What a surprise! It turned out to be a little family group of J pod, speed swimming south to catch up with the rest of the group, who were about 7 miles ahead. We made our way south with this group for a while, and then moved on further south to find the rest of J pod. We ended our day with J1 (Ruffles), the oldest male (55 yrs) of the Southern Resident Orcas. He is an awe inspiring animal at 30 feet long, with a 6 foot tall dorsal fin.

We then headed over to check out a great Harbor Seal Haul out before running up San Juan Channel to complete our circumnavigation of San Juan Island.

May 17, 2006

Is it summer already? The weather has been amazing this week.

We left Friday Harbor today with a great group of passengers. Almost all from Seattle, Washington. No Reports of Orca Whales today, but we still had an awesome trip.

I headed north out into Haro Strait and the Canadian Gulf Islands to find Dall's Porpoises. We found almost 100 animals feeding in the deep water off of Stuart Island. Dall's Porpoises are cute little black and white porpoises about 6 feet long. We got some beautiful looks at them as they rolled through water all around us. We even had a couple decide to hitch a ride on the wake of our bow, to the delight of our passengers.

We then headed around the top of Stuart Island and through the Cactus Islands. There we found a beautiful Harbor Seal Haul out with about 100 seals, and nearby we found about 20 beautiful Harlequin Ducks.

On Spieden Island (used to be called Safari Island) we had one of the most amazing Bald Eagle encounters I have ever had. There were about 6 or 7 eagles feeding on a deer carcass by the water. When we arrived, a couple of juveniles were busy feeding. We watched as a large mature eagle stretched out its wings and swooped down from a nearby tree, screeching as dive bombed the two less experienced birds. The two young eagles scattered as more mature eagles came in to feast.

On the way home we found a couple of beautiful Big Horn Rams on the east point of Spieden Island. These rams were imported more than 30 years ago from Corsica.

May 14, 2006

I got the call from another captain this morning reporting J pod coming south near Bellingham in Rosario Strait. What a great way to start Mother's Day.

We headed down San Juan Channel to meet up with the whales at the south end of Lopez Island. On the way we stopped over at Whale Rocks, where we found about 50 adorable little Harbor Seals basking in the sun. Then we headed over to a nearby island to check out an active Bald Eagle's nest. We found several of these majestic eagles hanging around in the trees and one on the nest.

We had a wonderful visit with J pod. Just before we left, one of the younger whales breached 4 times in a row. Wow! What an amazing sight.

May 13, 2006

Well, I got to explore the limits of our range today. When we left San Juan Island I had a report of J pod heading north near Point Roberts. Point Roberts is about the farthest point in our normal range, or at least it used to be.

It was a beautiful sunny calm day, I had a great group of people on board, and I was feeling adventurous. We ran up north, slicing through the water at about 18 knots, into the openness of the Strait of Georgia, until we finally caught sight of the Orca Whales near Vancouver, Canada. We had a wonderful visit with them, and even saw a beautiful "spy hop".

On the way home we found a new (new to us) Bald Eagle's next on Waldron Island with two mature eagles near by. The eagle sightings this spring have been amazing so far.

It was a long trip, but well worth it.

May 10, 2006

Today was a very interesting day of whale watching.

I received a report of Orca Whales in Bellingham Bay this morning. An unusual place for them to show up. It turned out to be J-pod and they were soon heading up Rosario Strait near Lummi Island.

On our way out we stopped at the Pea Pod Islands to take a look at a beautiful mature Bald Eagle and about 50 Harbor Seals. We also found tons of interesting sea birds. These little islands are always teeming with wildlife.

We found J-pod in a resting pattern, slowly moving north. I often feel this is one of the best ways to view these beautiful animals. When they rest, they group up tightly and all come up for air at about the same time. It's an awe inspiring sight to watch and listen to 20 some whales rise to the surface, exhaling and inhaling, all together.

We spent about an hour just enjoying the encounter and the sunshine, before we made our way home around the top of Orcas Island.

May 9, 2006

What a gorgeous day! The water was flat calm and the sun was shining brightly.

Just before the trip, a report came in of Orcas near Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver is way out of our range, but it sounded like they were coming south, it was a beautiful day and I was eager to test out my new engines. I decided to run up to Saturna Island (about half way to Vancouver), hoping that the whales would come down a little more.

As we rounded East Point (Saturna Island) and started heading into the open water of the Strait of Georgia I called up to Vancouver to get another report. The whales had turned and were now heading north away from us. We gave it our best shot, but they were too far. It just goes to show you that we can never take the whales for granted. They are still wild and have a mind of their own, which is the way it should be.

So we headed over to "Boiling Reef" and found about 15 huge Stellar Sea Lions hauled out. What an amazing sight watching these 2000 lb animals jockey for position on the rocks, roaring at each other and brandishing their large fangs. For a while I just shut the engines off and drifted by so we could fully enjoy this wild scene.

From there we headed down Boundary Pass in search of Dall's Porpoises. What we found was about 50 Harbor Porpoises feeding in the calm waters. Harbor Porpoises are normally very boat shy. So I shut down for a while to see if we could get a good look. Soon we had tons of porpoises surfacing all around us. You could hear each breath as they came up for air. Beautiful!

I was bound and determined to show our guest some Dall's Porpoises, which are some of the most lovable animals around. So we headed down to Turn Point (the most NW point in the lower 48). There we found almost 100 Dall's Porpoises feeding in the tide rips off of the point. What a fantastic sight. We even had a group decide to swim with the boat, riding our bow wake, just 6 feet from our smiling guests.

On the way home we even got to see a mature Bald Eagle. We had an awesome trip!

April 30, 2006

The last week and a half has been full of some fantastic whale watching and wildlife tours!

J-pod has been spending a lot of time around the San Juan Islands and has provided some great viewing experiences. Today we caught up with them south of San Juan and were treated to lots of spy hops, breaching, foraging, and general goofing off.

On the few days when the Orcas weren't around we saw Dall's Porpoises, Stellar Sea Lions, tons of Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoises, and lots of Sea Birds. The islands are gorgeous in the spring, lush and green. It's one of my favorite time of the year.

The new engines I put in the boat this past winter have been working out well also. The extra speed has come in handy on a number of days when we've traveled long distance to see the Orca whales and the lowered noise level makes the ride a lot more comfortable.

April 19, 2006

The news we have been waiting for finally arrived today. The first sighting of J-pod near San Juan island!

I got the call early this morning and could hardly contain myself with anticipation for our trip. Today Beach Watchers of San Juan County chartered the boat to go out and look at the various preserves and refuges in the islands. Of course, they didn't mind stopping to look at our beloved resident Orca Whales as well.

We headed out from Friday Harbor and sped as quickly as possible to an area off of the west side of the island. We soon found the eldest male of the Southern Resident Orcas, J1 Ruffles. It was really good to see he made it through another winter. What a beautiful and powerful animal. We all enjoyed watching him forage, moving slowly south. Hopefully they will find enough salmon here to stick around a while.

After we left Ruffles we headed down island towards Whale Rocks, discussing the interesting geology of South Beach along the way. On Whale Rocks we found about 6 huge Stellar Sea Lions posing proudly above the waterline. I shut the engines down and let the boat drift by. We could hear these "Grizzly Bears of the Sea" roar and snarl at each other as we drifted silently. To top it off we also had a mature Bald Eagle perched at the tip of the rock looking down on the scene with apparent indifference.

On the way home we stopped at Goose Island to look at the Pelagic Cormorant nests and Shark Reef National Wildlife Refuge to look at a great little Harbor Seal haul out.

What a beautiful day.

April 14, 2006

Today started out a bit cold and windy, but turned into a terrific trip. We left Friday Harbor and headed north with a small group of adventurous passengers.

Our first stop was Spieden Island. As we rounded the eastern point of the island I noticed something in the water out of the corner of my eye. I quickly slowed the boat and up popped 3 huge Stellar Sea Lions. With the engines shut down, we drifted with them for a while, watching them roll around in the water.

Then we headed over to the Cactus Islands. What an amazing Bald Eagle encounter! We found two mature eagles near a nest, another one in a nest, and 4 Bald Eagles fighting over a piece of fish on the rocks. We also had a great view a a Harbor Seal haul out.

I wasn't sure if we'd be able to find any Dall's Porpoises today, as the water was a bit choppy. But we headed up towards Stuart Island to see what we could find. As we rounded the Turn Point lighthouse the sun started to creep through the gray sky and the water was calm. It was like we turned the corner and found ourselves in a different climate. We searched around for a while and finally found a group of Dall's Porpoises feeding in the 1000 ft deep water of Haro Strait. We watched as they arched their backs for a long dive and then waited for them to reappear, and waited, and waited. Finally, I decided they gave us the slip and we started to head home. About a 1/4 of a mile towards home another group of porpoises suddenly appeared and promptly sped towards our bow to ride our wake. We spent the next 10 or 15 minutes laughing and pointing at the porpoises playing next to the boat. These guys never cease to put a smile on your face.

As if the day wasn't great enough, on our way home we were treated to a group of 7 large Stellar Sea Lions hauled out on Spieden Island. When you see these massive animals hauled out, posturing and roaring at each other, it is easy to understand why they are called the "Grizzlies of the Sea".

April 10, 2006

Today was gorgeous. The weather forecast today was a "chance of thunderstorms" and the morning was pretty gray and cool. But, as is usual in the San Juan Islands, the sunshine found its way here anyway's. This afternoon turned out to be one of the most beautiful days this year.

We found a bunch of Dall's Porpoises out in Haro Strait. Dall's are curious little black and white porpoises that will often come up to the boat. Today they were intent on feeding in the deep water below. But we still got some great looks as they came up for air.

We then headed over to check out Turn Point Lighthouse, which is the most NW point in the lower 48 states. As we pulled up to take a close look we noticed 2 Peregrine Falcons flying off the bluff towards a mature Bald Eagle. They zoomed around the eagle, apparently harassing it. It was really amazing watching the raptors and listening to their calls.

On the way home we stopped by an eagle's nest and then headed over to Spieden Island. Just as we rounded the point I caught site of a lone Stellar Sea Lion who had just hauled himself out of the water. What a beautiful site. 2000 lbs of animal proudly propped up on his flippers and glistening in the sun. You can really see why these guys are nicknamed the Grizzlies of the sea.

April 6, 2006

The season is really starting out great.

The weather was beautiful today. Flat calm water, almost no wind.

We headed north from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island this afternoon, up around Spieden Island and out into Haro Strait.

We had a terrific sighting of Mouflan Big Horn sheep and Bald Eagles on Spieden. Out in Haro Strait we found tons of Dall's Porpoises do slow rolling dives to feed on the fish below.

The highlight of the trip had to be a gigantic elephant seal we found sleeping out in the middle of Haro Strait. These animals can grow up to 16 feet long and weigh up to 5000 lbs. As we approached him I shut the engines down and let the boat drift by. Normally these guys take off as soon as you are within a 1/4 mile. But he stayed put, drifting along with his head out of the water and eyes closed. We had a great view of him and could hear every breath he took.

On the way home we stopped by a Bald Eagle's nest just in time to see a mature Eagle chase away a juvenile Eagle. The juvenile was most likely last year's fledgling returning home for some free handouts. However, its parents are already preparing to lay this year's egg and don't want the juvenile around anymore. There was lots of displaying and screeching.

April 3, 2006

Another great trip today.

We found about 25 Stellar Sea Lions feeding in Spieden Channel, north of San Juan Island, today. I was able to shut down the engines and silently drift along with the current for about 20 minutes. We could hear the deep exhales of the Stellars as they surfaced nearby. We even got to see one gigantic Stellar rip apart a huge skate.

Later we came across a nice group of Dall's Porpoises and even got to watch some ride the wake of a big Tug Boat. These guys are amazingly fast and nimble. It is so much fun to watch them swim.

We also has some great Bald Eagle sightings, including a nest, and found a great Seal Haul Out as well.

April 1, 2006

We started off the season with a great wildlife tour. I love the islands this time of year. Everything is green and lush, and there are hardly any boats around except us. Its almost like we have the islands all to ourselves.

The Bald Eagles were amazing today. At one point we even had one fly directly at us to within about 50 yards before veering off to a nearby island.

We also found a great group of Dall's Porpoises out in Haro Strait and got some great looks at these adorable little creatures.

On the way home we stopped at Spieden Island and found 3 huge Stellar Sea Lions loafing around off of the point. I never get tired of seeing these impressive animals.

February 25, 2006

We had an awesome 2005 season with lots of incredible whale watching and wildlife sightings. There were as many as 8 new baby orcas last year, and it appears that only 3 whales have passed away in the last year, bringing the total population to about 87. We should get some good sightings of the young ones this season and hopefully all of our old friends will be back this summer. 2005 also brought our friend "Freddy" the gray whale to the San Juan Islands. He spent the whole summer foraging in a shallow bay. What a treat he was. There was a lot of speculation about why he was here and where he came from. The good news is that, as far as people could tell, he was healthy the last time we saw him. Some researchers think that he might be part of a "resident" group of gray whales that spend most of their time around the mouth of Juan De Fuca. Maybe he'll be back again this summer? The big news this winter is that the Southern Resident Population of Orcas is officially on the endangered species list. This will hopefully translate into more salmon habitat protection/restoration, pollution controls, and education for the public, which is where we try to help out.

I also just finished up a complete repower of our vessel the "Western Prince II". I took out the old 2 stroke Detroit Diesel engines and replaced them with clean buring EPA Tier II 4 stroke Cummins Diesel engines. The new engines will reduce our emmisions significantly, reduce the noise level on board, and increase our speed and range for our tours. The whole project took about 2 months and a big investment, but I feel really good about going with these cleaner burning engines.

It should be a great 2006 season!

2005 Trip Report Archive