June 29, 2004

The weather continues to be beautiful here in the islands. Today was no exception.

I received a report this morning of L pod coming in from Victoria and J pod coming down from Vancouver. At departure time there were a lot of boats with L pod, but no one had spotted J pod for a few hours. I always prefer to go where there are fewer boats, even if it means traveling a little further. So, I headed out from Friday Harbor very slowly, contacting other boats as we went, hoping for a favorable update on J pod. Just as we turned south I received the call that I wanted to hear. J pod was coming down Boundary Pass towards the San Juan Islands.

I pulled the boat around and headed north for an awesome day of whale watching. The whales were really active today. At one point we observed what could only be described as a breaching contest. We counted over 20 breaches from 6 or 7 whales! What an amazing sight! They really seemed to be having a blast.

On the way home we had two great sightings of mature Bald Eagles as well.

June 28, 2004

Today we had a wonderful afternoon private boat charter with a group from a small restaurant in Seattle. The whale watching was great and the weather was beautiful.

We caught up with J pod in the Gulf Islands, north of the San Juans. Lots of cool activity as we watched them fish and play near the shoreline.

We also ran a really nice evening tour today. The whales continued north towards the Fraser River, near Vancouver, over 35 miles away and out of reach. So we went in search of the abundant wildlife that lives in our islands.

What a great trip! We saw Bald Eagles, Harbor Porpoises, Harbor Seals, the exotic deer and big horn sheep of Spieden Island, Dall's Porpoises, and even a family of River Otters. The otters were a really special treat! We had a great time watching them play in the water and hop along the rocky shoreline of Cactus Island. The Dall's Porpoises were also very playful tonight, coming right up to the boat and swimming with us. They seemed just as interested in us as we were in them, turning on their sides and looking up at our guests on them bow.

June 27, 2004

Another fantastic day of whale watching in the San Juan Islands.

J pod was close by on the west side of San Juan Island and moving slowly south, feeding along the way. It was sunny and calm all day. With our engines shut down, we had some really nice sightings as the whales passed by.

At one point a small group of whales that were traveling with two babies came by the boat. We watched as the older whales dove to feed, leaving the young ones near the surface. They were absolutely adorable as they wandered around near the boat waiting for their mothers to come back up. One of them seemed quite interested in us as well.

June 26, 2004

Today J pod decided to head north while L pod hung out on the west side of San Juan Island.

The weather was warm, sunny, and clear as we headed south from Friday Harbor. Days like these really give you a sense of the beauty Washington State offers.

We had a really nice visit with L pod today. The whales were very spread out and just seemed to be content to hang out, feeding at the south end of the island.

On the way home we stopped at a great seal haul out and and had a beautiful view of the Bald Eagle's nest on Turn Island.

June 25, 2004

What an amazing day of whale watching! We caught up with J pod on the west side of San Juan Island and also had a report of L pod coming in from Victoria.

As we neared J pod I noticed J-1 (Ruffles) starting to head off to the west. I thought that he might be heading out towards L pod and began following along side at about 200 yards. Sure enough, a few moments later the rest of J pod started heading off shore at about 8 knots towards Victoria. We followed them for about 3 miles, watching some spectacular speed swimming.

When the two pods met it seemed that they could hardly contain themselves with excitement. We saw an incredible amount of breaching and playing, sometimes very close to the boat. With the engines shut down, I lowered the hydrophone in the water. I have never heard anything like it. Over 60 whales singing to each other! We were truly privileged to witness this coming together today.

One of our passengers took some great photos of several breaches today. He said that he will enter them into our photo contest. So hopefully you will see them in our gallery soon.

June 24, 2004

Today we headed north from Friday Harbor, up past Turn Point, and into Canadian waters for a beautiful day of whale watching.

J pod was swimming close to shore at N. Pender Island when we caught up with them. We stopped well off of the island, giving them plenty of room to travel, and enjoyed the show. Lots of breaching! One juvenile must have breached 5 times!

June 22, 2004

Another beautiful day in the San Juan Islands. This morning was a bit foggy, but the afternoon was clear and warm.

Today we ran north from San Juan Island to find the orca whales heading into the Canadian Gulf Islands. J pod provided us with another wonderful day of whale watching.

Lots of interesting activity today. At one point J-11 (Blossom) and her baby were inshore of us playing together. J-11 was on her back, slapping her tail on the surface and her baby was just ahead of her mimicking her activity. Watching them today really gives me a sense of how close the family members are. Orca pods are matriarchal, with offspring spending their lives in their mother's pod. For example, J-1 (Ruffles) is normally seen traveling with J-2 (Granny), who is his 93 year old mother and the apparent leader of J pod.

June 21, 2004

Today we headed through several miles of pea soup fog south of San Juan Island for some truly spectacular whale watching.

J pod was sighted, in and out of the fog, just south of San Juan Island and L pod was sighted near Victoria heading towards San Juan Island. However, as we ran south from Friday Harbor to find J pod we received a report of them porpoising west at 10 knots! Fortunately for us they were heading out to meet L pod.

It took some time, but we finally broke out of the fog bank into a large sunlit clearing and found J pod and L pod playing, feeding, and getting a little frisky with one another. Tons of breaching, tail slapping, cart wheels, and spyhops. At one point we had L-57 (Faith), L-41 (Mega), and J-1 (Ruffles) come flying by our stern, along with several females. What an amazing site seeing the three largest males all swimming and playing together.

It really seemed that the whales were excited to see each other. I know we were all very excited to be there with them.

June 20, 2004

The weather has been incredible the last week. Sunny and in the 70s almost everyday.

Today we ran north from San Juan Island to catch up with J pod as they passed Turn Point (the most NW point in the lower 48). They were in a resting pattern today. When orca whales rest they group up together very closely, even touching, and travel slowly all coming up at about the same time for air and then going back down again. It's a beautiful thing to watch and listen to.

There were a lot of boats out on the water today and I was happy to hear that National Marine Fisheries pulled over a private boater for harassing the whales. It's frustrating sometimes when you see other boaters operating with utter disregard for the whales. It's nice to see some enforcement out on the water.

On our way home we had a great Bald Eagle show. We found one in a dead tree apparently drying its wings. It was just sitting there with its wings partly spread out. Very interesting. Further down we had an eagle cross our bow very closely and then another swoop down to try to steal a fish from a harbor seal.

June 19, 2004

Today was an interesting day for the whales. We had L pod heading towards Victoria from San Juan Island and J pod heading south from Point Roberts. Both pods were at the very edge of our range when we left the dock, but no boats were on scene with J pod. Many of the San Juan Island boats went south after L pod, but I had a feeling that they would be too far away by the time we got out there, so I headed north in search of J pod.

As it turned out, we got very lucky. We were searching for J pod with several other boats about 25 miles north east of San Juan Island when the whales were spotted about 2 miles ahead of us. We had a great view of the orcas with only a few boats on scene. I heard later that several boat that went to find L pod had to turn back before they ever saw them.

June 15, 2004

Two trips today.

The first was a morning charter with an OMSI camp on the island. We had a great wildlife trip with tons of interesting things to see. Towards the end of the trip the kids did a plankton pull and observed the small creatures under microscopes. A really cool way of teaching them about this ecosystem.

This afternoon we received a report of J pod heading south down Rosario Strait (east of the San Juan Islands). On our way south we found 4 Bald Eagles on Lopez Island fighting over a small carcass. We stopped to watch as the birds flew back and forth and screeched with their high pitched calls. It's a good reminder of how wild the area still is. What a beautiful sight!

We caught up with J pod in a resting mode around the southern end of Lopez Island. When the whales rest they all travel together in a tight group, often touching one another. As they surface, you can hear blow after blow and watch their fins pierce the surface and then disappear again. We were lucky enough to be around when the whales started to wake up as well. We first noticed a few spy hops and then several breaches. Ruffles (J-1) turned out and passed us close at about 100 yards. We had a wonderful view of his 6 foot tall rippled dorsal fin.

June 14, 2004

Today we had a fantastic day of whale watching with J pod on the west side of San Juan Island. The water was a bit choppy and the orcas could barely keep themselves contained. Lots of tail slapping, cartwheels, and breaches.

We followed them all the way up to Lime Kiln Lighthouse and then left them to run through Mosquito Pass, past Roche Harbor, and back down the east side of San Juan Island. A full circumnavigation of the island. I always love going through Mosquito Pass, nice and slow, just enjoying the scenery and checking out the beautiful waterfront homes.

June 13, 2004

L pod!! Today we received the report of L pod heading north up the west side of San Juan Island. Just as we were leaving Friday Harbor, the whales turned south at the north end of the island. Lucky for us we received the update and were able to head south instead of north.

The whale watching was great today. Lots of breaches and other activity and we got a great view of L-57 (one of the big mature males in L pod). As we were heading back in I heard that they were heading back out to the Pacific Ocean. Hopefully they will be back again soon with K pod?

June 12, 2004

A fantastic day of whale watching. Today we ran south from Friday Harbor, down around the south end of San Juan Island and back up the west side to catch up with J pod.

The water was glassy calm today as we set up for our first pass and shut down our engines. We were immediately treated to a great view of Ruffles feeding and then breaching about 150 yards away from the boat.

We had several other whales breach, tail slap, and lunge near the boat. I love just sitting silently in the water enjoying the whales as they go by. It really was a special day for us.

June 11, 2004

Another beautiful day in the San Juan Islands. The weather has really been cooperating with us lately.

About an hour before we left on our trip today we received a report of J pod at the Fraser River (near Vancouver), which is over 30 miles away. This is normally too far for any boats from the San Juan Islands to run. However, as we got underway I received another report that they were heading south.

We went north from Friday Harbor to view some wildlife and position ourselves in a good place if the whales continued heading south. As we moved into Canadian waters it became evident that J pod was still heading south and that we might have a chance at seeing them. So, I decided to go for it.

It was a long trip, but we ended up with some really great whale watching up at Point Roberts. The whole pod of whales passed us, with lots of fishing activity as they went by. You could see fins slicing through the water as they chased salmon near the boat. It turned out to be a wonderful day indeed. Thanks to Charlotte, today's naturalist, for keeping the energy level up for such a long trip. Everyone had a great time.

June 10, 2004

We received a report of J pod heading north to the Fraser River last night, but no sightings this morning. We headed up north from San Juan Island looking for Bald Eagles and Dall's Porpoise and hoping that the orca whales would show up.

About 2 hours into our trip we had given up on finding J pod ,and were just enjoying the scenery and wildlife, when we received our first report. The whales had somehow made it down and around the southern tip of San Juan Island without anyone spotting them! Shann, our senior naturalist, always remarks out wonderful it is that we completely lose contact with the whales for most of the day. It reminds us that these are wild animals in their natural environment and how special it is that we have the opportunity to observe them.

When we finally caught up with J pod on the west side of San Juan Island we were treated to some spectacular breaches, tale lobs, and a few spy hops. The water was a bit choppy and the whales seemed to be having a blast because of it.

June 8, 2004

An absolutely beautiful day for whale watching. The skies were clear and sunny over the San Juan Islands today.

J pod was reported about 30 miles north east of San Juan Island heading south. So we headed east from Friday Harbor to try to catch up with them in Rosario Strait. The whales found some salmon to feed on and were moving slowly south, stopping to forage along the way.

It ended up being a long run up to them, but it was well worth it. About 20 minutes after we shut down to let the whales pass, we had a large female suddenly breach twice near the boat. A really special treat for all of us! We were able to see a lot of fishing activity all around us and had some great views of Blossom (J-11) and her calf as well. The whole time we had the hydrophone down and were able to listen to some amazing vocalizations.

Thanks to JR and Kim from Auburn, CA for coming out with us again this season. This was their 6th trip with us.

June 7, 2004

We had an excellent wildlife trip today. J pod and L pod were both heading out west past Victoria out to the Pacific Ocean when we left Friday Harbor. So we headed north from San Juan Island to explore the interesting islands and diverse wildlife that reside here.

The weather was beautiful today and we had some spectacular views of Mt. Baker as we headed north.

We found Mouflan Sheep (Big horn sheep originally from Greece) and lots of Bald Eagles on Speiden Island. Speiden Island is home to several exotic species of animal that were originally imported for hunting in the 1970s.

Out in Haro Strait we found lots of Dall's Porpoise and had some great close up views when several of them came over to our boat to play in our bow wake.

On the way back to Friday Harbor we stopped by a Bald Eagle's nest on Little Cactus Island and spied an adult eagle in the nest with a cute fluffy little eaglet poking it's head just above the edge. Very cool! We will keep an eye on the nest for the next couple of months as the eaglet grows and learns to fly and hunt.

June 5, 2004

We received a report early this morning of J pod heading south from Point Roberts.

For our trip we headed east from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, through Upright Channel and then through Obstruction Pass. I always love the scenery when we make that run. The views of Orcas Island, Lopez Island, and Blakely Island are spectacular. Today the mist was just hanging in the tree tops of the peaks all around us.

Past Obstruction Pass we found a lone Bald Eagle and an interesting seal haul out on Peapod Rocks. We caught up with J pod further north and had some great whale watching. They were fishing again, very spread out and going in many different directions. We had a great viewing of one of the calves. At one point we had a couple of whales dive about 100 yards from our starboard side, heading off of our stern. We were all looking on that side waiting for them to come up again when we heard a loud "blow" on the port side. I turned just in time to see a wonderful "spy hop"!

June 3, 2004

This morning we had a private charter with 30 students from Nova School in Seattle. Peter, our experienced relief captain, ran the trip. They had a wonderful whale watching tour. We didn't have any reports this morning so they ran north to do a wildlife trip. About an hour into the trip J pod showed up at the north end of San Juan Island, only a few miles from where our boat was! They had a great view of Ruffles and saw a lot of fishing activity going on, as well as some breaching.

I ran the afternoon trip and caught up with J pod at the southern end of San Juan Island, still fishing. Hopefully this means that there is plenty of food for them right now. About 15 minutes after we arrived the whales seemed to decide that it was time to go. When they want to go they really move. The first group started heading back up the island and, as we watched them leave, we spotted Ruffles and Granny (Ruffles 93 year old mother) powering up from behind. They were way ahead of the group and were now cruising up to get ahead of them again. You really get a sense of the power these whales have when they are moving like that. Seeing Ruffles 6 foot dorsal fin puncture the surface as his back rises up through the water traveling at 8 to 10 knots is awesome.

June 2, 2004

We received a report about an hour before our trip of whales coming in from Victoria. L pod? K pod? Nope, J pod snuck out in the night and were heading back in. Just when you think you are starting to get a feel for their patterns they switch it up.

We caught up with them on the west side of San Juan Island and had a spectacular viewing. They were doing a lot of fishing and were spread out quite a bit, going in every direction. So we just shut down and enjoyed the show. At one point a female came zooming by off of our stern after a fish. She must have been going at least 15 knots. We could see the tip of her fin slicing through the water just inches beneath the surface. As we were heading back, we also had a great view of Ruffles (J1) who was hanging around well outside of the rest of the group.

The only downside to the whole day was a pleasure boater, who obviously had no clue how to operate around whales, running his engines at high speed within close proximity to the fishing orcas. Unfortunately, Soundwatch was not on the water due to mechanical difficulties. Several of the commercial operators, including myself, filed a report with NMFS.

May 31, 2004

Another beautiful whale watching day. Today we got a report of J-pod heading north again, but not too far away yet.

We took off at 12:00 and headed straight up to where they were as fast as we could go. I even drafted on the wake of another vessel to pick up some speed. It's tricky trying to surf a 33 ton boat, but it definitely helped and I had some fun doing it.

We found J-pod up in the Canadian Gulf Islands and immediately had a great visit with Ruffles. We had him about 125 yards off of our boat, slowly coming up to take a breath and then sliding back beneath the water. His 6 foot dorsal fin looked like a periscope as it cut through the water, rising up higher and higher until his back broke the surface. After hanging out with Ruffles and the rest of the pod for a while we ran back down through Navy Channel, which is one of my favorite routes for its breathtaking scenery.

On the way into Friday Harbor we were treated with a truly surprising sight. What looked at first to be a Harbor Seal off of our port bow turned out to be a Black Tailed Deer swimming across to the University of Washington Labs. I have heard that the local deer will swim from island to island, but this is the first time I have seen it with my own eyes. Pretty amazing! I think one of our passengers got a photo. I will try to put it up on the site soon.

May 30, 2004

We had a very eclectic group on board today. We had some locals from Lopez Island, a school group from Wenatchee, a family from Bombay, India, and some folks from Oklahoma. It's always interesting to meet all of the different people that come out with us.

Rowann and Charlotte (2 of our naturalists) did a great job today keeping everyone interested and entertained. Excellent job you two!!

We got the word just before we left the dock that J-pod was traveling north towards the Fraser River, near Vancouver, and that they would be out of reach for our trip. Orcas can travel up to 100 miles in a day and travel where they please. So we geared up for a great wildlife trip instead.

The weather was just incredible today. Sunny and clear. We had spectacular views of the local islands as we headed north to find Dall's Porpoise.

On our way up San Juan Channel, we found a Stellar Sea Lion swimming through the water. A special treat this time of year. The 2000 pound light brown animal was just cruising along, coming up for a breath every now and then. We could see the water drip from its whiskers and the mist shoot from its mouth every time it came up. On the way out to Haro Strait we stopped at Speiden Island to take a look at the Big Horn Sheep (originally from Greece) grazing along the hillside. We had a great view of a particularly large male with a huge horns!

As we continued north we found lots of Dall's Porpoise near Turn Point (the most North West point in the lower 48). These playful creatures are 6' long, black and white, and are often mistaken for baby orcas.

On the way back to San Juan Island we ran through John's Pass and through Cactus Islands where we found an active Bald Eagle's nest with a mature eagle in the nest tending to eggs.

What a great wildlife day!! Hopefully J-pod will decide to stick around for us tomorrow.

May 29, 2004

Well, it's definitely Memorial Day Weekend. Lots of boaters out and tons of people in town. While I was fueling up today I witnessed a pleasure boat running into a ferry! Yes, I did say "a boat running into a ferry". There's a first time for everything.

Big news today! L-pod showed up north of here heading down south towards San Juan Island. Today is the first day this year that they have been spotted in these waters. We ran 2 whale watching trips today that were completely different.

Our 12:30 trip took us north to catch up with L-pod near Stuart Island. They were spread out over 3 miles today. We had some great views of a couple big males as they moved quickly (7 knots at times) down Haro Strait. We were able to head back through Mosquito Pass and check out the waterfront homes and Roche Harbor.

For our 4:30 trip we headed south to catch up with L-pod again a few miles off of San Juan Island. We had a group of 12 coworkers from Microsoft and family from Seattle on the boat this evening. The water was glassy calm this evening. It looked almost like we were running through mercury. Right as we left we also received a report of J-pod over in Rosario Strait, which is near Anacortes. Very interesting. Sounded like a good chance for a superpod sighting. As it turns out, we followed L-pod out west almost to Victoria. J-pod didn't show up, but we had a great show with lots of breaching, spyhopping and some interesting vocalizations.

Maybe tomorrow we will get the superpod. I'm crossing my fingers.

May 28, 2004

After a couple of days off of the water, I was ready to get back out with J-pod. The weather has been pretty rainy the last couple of days, and today was absolutely beautiful.

We ran south down San Juan Channel today and caught up with the orcas on the west side of the island again. We were shut down about 150 yards away from the whales when Blossom (J11) and her calf decided to change direction to come over and check us out. They went right by the boat!

On the way back to Friday Harbor we were treated to a lone Stellar Sea Lion hauled out on Whale Rocks and had a great view of a mature Bald Eagle on Long Island.

May 25, 2004

What a fantastic day! We found J-pod just south of San Juan Island in the glassy calm waters off of South Beach.

They were very spread out and moving slowly. So we set up and shut the engines down to let them go by. We sat like that for a good 45 minutes while the whales foraged for salmon all around us. I am including a couple of photos for today's report. One is of Ruffles gliding by with the Olympic Mountains in the background. The other one is of Spieden, who turned towards the stern of our boat, made a deep dive underneath us and then surfaced about 2 FEET off of our stern, going back the other way!! No one saw it coming. I was just lucky enough to be standing on the canopy with my camera in hand.

On the way home to Friday Harbor we were able to stop at a great seal haul out on Whale Rocks and got an excellent view of an immature Bald Eagle and a Bald Eagle's nest on Turn Island. The refreshing afternoon drizzle on the way home didn't dampen anyone's spirits.

May 24, 2004

Another beautiful day on the water, and what a great group of passengers today! We had a really energetic group of 8 people who came up for a work retreat from Seattle, a group of 4 from Korea, including 2 nuns, and even a couple from Louisiana. What a great mix!

Shann did an excellent job as naturalist today and JB, who normally works on another whale watching boat, was our guest assistant naturalist today. Thanks to both of you for making it a great trip!

After running through Mosquito Pass (see May 22 report), we found J-pod slowly moving up towards the north end of San Juan Island in a resting pattern. As they passed, we could see the tip of Ruffles' 6 foot long dorsal fin slowly break the water and then rise up to it's full length as he took a breath, and then slowly disappear again beneath the waves. At the same time, about 20 other whales would come up for a breath around him and then slide back down, almost synchronized. It was a very serene and beautiful.

May 23, 2004

Today we ran an 8 hour wildlife and whale watching charter for students of a Marine Mammal class from the University of Washington, which is in Seattle.

The weather was beautiful and sunny, with slick calm water throughout most of the areas we traveled. It was incredibly clear today as well. We had some great views of the snow capped Mt. Baker to the north east and the Olympic Peninsula to the south.

We covered a lot of ground today; running up north towards the Gulf Islands of Canada, around Turn Point (the most NW point in the US, not including Alaska), down the west side of San Juan Island, and then back up San Juan Channel to Friday Harbor.

We started the day off with a great seal haul out on White Rock. There was also a mature Bald Eagle perched on the highest point above the seals, looking very majestic.

As we were running up north from there, we came across a large group of Harbor Porpoises. These are very shy animals and we normally do not get to see much of them. With the engines shut down, we just drifted for a while watching them surface, their small gray dorsal fin sliding out of the glassy water and then disappearing again underneath.

We also found Dall's Porpoises in Haro Strait. They seemed very intent on feeding in that area and only a few played with us when we invited them. However, we did get great views of some lung feeding going on at the surface. These little guys can swim up to 30 knots when they want to. We also had an excellent sighting of a hybrid, which is a cross between a Dall's Porpoise and a Harbor Porpoise. They look a lot like a Harbor, but act like and associate with the Dall's. Very interesting!

Further south, we caught up with the orcas and enjoyed some spectacular whale watching. They were spread out and heading up along San Juan Island. Jacquelyn took our dogs to South Beach to swim and got a great view from shore as well today. There was a lot of activity going on and we were treated to a double breach by a juvenile right before we left.

On the way back to Friday Harbor we stopped at Whale Rocks and found two Stellar Sea Lions hanging around in the water with a Harbor Seal and a California Sea Lion.

We saw just about every marine mammal we could see in this area today, except for a Minke whale, which we did get a report of but could not find. What an amazing day for the Marine Mammal class!

May 22, 2004

Today we actually got some much needed rain. It has been so dry lately that people are starting to worry about water supplies and river levels for Salmon runs, the main source of food for our resident orcas.

We headed up San Juan channel for our trip with a great group of passengers. We limited our passenger load to 20 today to make sure everyone was comfortable. The islands were breathtaking, with the mist hanging in the lush green trees along the shoreline.

The orcas were spotted on the west side of San Juan Island near Lime Kiln lighthouse. So we ran up north around the top of the island and through Mosquito Pass. I always enjoy running through the tight pass looking at Roche Harbor marina and all of the beautiful waterfront homes along the way. We will often see Great Blue Herons in there as well.

The whales apparently found some food on the west side today. The whole time we were watching them they were foraging and lunging about near the coastline. They would work their way south aways and then turn back up north for a while and then head back down south. We got a great view of Ruffles and Granny ( Ruffles 93 year old mother) foraging just off of the light house.

May 21, 2004

The whales went north last evening and we didn't have any sightings this morning. So, I drove out the west side to take a look. On my drive I found 6 immature Bald Eagles soaring and mock fighting above South Beach. What a sight!

This afternoon we were getting all set to run a great wildlife trip when I received a whale sighting just before we left the dock. J-pod was coming down Bellingham Channel, east of the San Juan Islands. Yeah!

We took our time running out to meet the whales today. At Turn Island we had a great look at a Bald Eagle's nest and a seal haul out, and further on down at Whale Rocks we found 3 mature Bald Eagles and tons more seals.

We met up J-pod south of Lopez Island. As they went by, near the Island, we were treated to multiple breaches and some tail slapping. After all had passed, we started the engines up and began running parallel to the whales. About this time they had begun to bunch up and started moving along faster. As we neared Cattle Pass, at the southern tip of San Juan Island, they really started putting on the steam. All of the whales, including Ruffles, started porpoising, picking up speed to about 10 knots. It was an amazing site watching all of them launch their bodies just above and through the water, especially a big bull like Ruffles. It really gives you a sense of the power these animals have.

On our run home we came back through Cattle Pass on a flood tide. The current was running through the pass at about 5 knots! It was almost like running through rapids with all of the upwellings and eddies. Another great day!

May 20, 2004

I spent the last two days performing some minor maintenance on the engines, all the while listening to whale reports on the radio. I am happy to report that the "Prince" is running beautifully. I can't wait to get back out with J-pod tomorrow! It's going to be a great weekend.

May 18, 2004

We were surprised to hear that the whales were on the west side of the island again this morning. They traveled over 50 miles since last evening!

The weather was beautiful again as we headed north from San Juan Island for another great day of whale watching. We found J-pod slowly going by Battleship Island in a resting pattern. It always fascinates me that they can shut down half of their brain to sleep while the other half keeps their breathing going and keeps them moving along.

It was really neat to see all of J-pod together coming up for air and then going down again, slowly making their way north. Each time they came up you could hear multiple blows, one after another.

As we headed up to Turn Point Lighthouse we got a close up view of the great work that Soundwatch is doing. We were drifting with our engines off when a private boater came within 25 yards of us, with their engines running, heading right for the whales that were about 150 yards ahead. Soundwatch came in, got the owner to stop, and very politely passed whale watching guidelines to him. Soundwatch has an incredibly difficult job of educating boaters, without having the authority to force them to observe whale watching guidelines.

On our run back home we came across a large group of Dall's Porpoise. You could spot them easily in the slick calm water today. We made a slow pass by, inviting them to play with us. No takers today though. They seemed more intent on feeding in the deep water off of Stuart Island.

May 17, 2004

Our 7th day in a row sighting orcas around San Juan Island. We had an incredible day with orca whales, a minke whale, bald eagles, seals, and even a stellar sea lion today.

I drove out to Eagle Point this morning to find J11 and her calf milling right off of the rocks. The rest of the pod was around the corner further north out of my view. What a special treat to see them in so close and a great way to start off the morning.

On our trip we caught up with J-pod about 20 miles north in Canadian waters. We had a wonderful pass from the orcas. With our engines shut down we had 15 to 20 whales pass about 200 yards off of our bow and then stop and turn towards us as if they were changing direction. There was a lot of tale slapping and pec slapping on the water with the whole group on the surface, as if they were having a discussion about where to go. They finally decided to keep heading north. What a great show!

There was also a Minke whale curiously hanging around the orcas today. It's interesting that this whale knows the difference between J-pod, who won't eat him, and transient orcas, who would love to make lunch out of him.

On our way home to San Juan Island we stopped near an eagle's nest and found an adult eagle in it's nest. Charlotte says that it looked like the eagle was attending to eaglets in the nest. We will definitely keep an eye on this nest for the next couple of months. We then continued on to find a lone stellar sea lion near Spieden Island. It was a real treat to find him there. They should be heading back up to Alaska any day now.

May 16, 2004

We have just added our Whale Watching and Wildlife Trip reports to the site. I will try to add reports about our trips on a regular basis and will even add a photo here and there.

We have had an incredible season so far, with lots of Dall's Porpoise, Stellar Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, and of course J-pod! It is such a joy to be making a living on these beautiful waters and to share the amazing wildlife with our guests.

Hope to see you soon,

Ivan Reiff
Captain & Owner