Forecast: Rainy with a good chance of whales!

Well what a rainy Wednesday! We're getting some much needed rain on the island...however I can't wait till it's sunny again! Traveled north this afternoon into Canadian waters to meet up with the southbound J-Pod.

Got our first good looks at dorsal fins out at Boiling Reef....with the flooding tide there were some really nice currents, rips and whirlpools out there! The dozen or so Orcas we encountered were in a tight traveling group, slowly making their way against the incoming tide. They travelled towards Saturna Island (the most southerly of the Canadian Gulf Islands) and really hugged the shore as they made their way south.

Great looks at who we identified as members of J-Pod. J-27 (Blackberry) was amongst the pod with his mother J-11 (Blossom), aunt J-19 (Sachi) and younger brother J-39 (Mako). It was a beautiful sight; the Orcas moved so gracefully and surfaced to breath within seconds of each other. We tried the hydrophone (the underwater microphone) a few times, but the water was quiet, no vocalizations between animals. Looked as though there was a little resting behavior, then a few spy hops as well as the occasional tail slap or flipper slap. Overall just a graceful viewing of the Orcas moving together!

-jaclyn, naturalist

It's a Mystery

The photo below is of L57 (Faith) by one of our guests, Herb Hartmann, aboard the Sea Lion.

The orcas were back! We had a great encounter with Ls after two days without the Residents. It's always nice to see Ks or Ls as a naturalist because it allows me the chance to get to know them better.

We began our encounter at South Beach with the L22s. We were alerted to their presence by L79 (Skana)'s large dorsal as we was playing with his little brother L89 (Solstice). Spirit (L22), their mother, followed behind them while whale researchers took ID photos for proof of presence of this matriline. Unfortunately this group has only one female in L22. She is the last producing female of this matriline since her mother and aunt passed away. We watched this subgroup frolicking along the shoreline and then branched out to see a sprouter male offshore towards Salmon Bank. This male turned out to be Mystery (L85)... who followed his namesake because he was tough to ID. We were looking at mature male photos, which he wasn't included in since he began sprouting in 2004. (We call adolescent males sprouters because they begin "sprouting" a manly dorsal fin at the onset of sexual maturity.) Mystery gave us more surprises when he went down for a deep dive and surfaced right next to our boat! (Somebody needs to teach these guys the rules... 100 yds!) After letting Mystery pass, who turns out to be Spirit's cousin, we watched Spirit's younger brother Onyx (L87) as researchers took some proof of presence ID shots of him as well. Onyx was born in 1992 and is also in the process of sprouting that tall male dorsal fin.

It's always nice to go out on the water and see the orcas as well as the researchers, which provides an opportunity for our guests to learn about the animals as well as the people who are diligently working to protect them. Many times the best way to protect something is to learn more about it so we can be better equipped to save it by understanding what key factors are in its decline. We are happy to work alongside the researchers by sharing information to keep these guys around for future generations.

Megan Young, Naturalist

With J, K, & L Pods Away, the Transients Came Into the San Juan Islands!

(Photograph of T20, borrowed from the Center for Whale Research website, taken by Mark Malleson - http://www.whaleresearch.com/thecenter/2008_Sightings_2008_0416_T20_T21.html)

Having heard word that that our beloved Southern Resident Community had headed out of our reach, the day could have ended with no orca sightings. But lo and behold, some of the transient orcas had been spotted in the islands. The Southern Resident Community are the orcas people generally think about when they hear about orcas in the San Juan Islands. This group of orcas is made up of three pods, J, K, and L Pod. Some or all members are in the area frequently between April until October, hunting for salmon. During the summer months, the resident community eats a diet of 100% salmon. Today, we did not spot these orcas. Instead, we had the opportunity to see a group of transients, which we see much less frequently in the area. Transient orcas eat marine mammals. They will eat harbor seals, porpoises, whales, and even Great White Sharks.

Captain Mike, naturalist Megan, our guests, and I headed up towards Matia Island to check out a group of seven transient orcas. When we first approached the orcas and other whale watch boats, we could spot T20 in the distance. T20, a male transient orca in his forties, was travelling with six female transients. The T20's (a family group of transients that tend to travel together - T20, T21, and T22) have a interesting story connected to J Pod, one of the three resident pods we see in the islands. Typically, the resident orcas and transient orcas tend to either ignore each other (acting as though they don't notice), or the transients will actively avoid the resident community. No cases of any other kinds of interaction between the two groups was documented until 1993, when 10 J Pod members were spotted off the coast of Descano Bay charging at high speed toward the bay and toward T20, T21, and T22. These three orcas were fleeing from the J Pod members. After the encounter ended, the J Pod members involved in the incident met up with J17 and her newborn calf, J28. This interaction could possibly have been related to the calf, because transients are marine mammal hunters and J Pod could have considered them a potential threat to young J28. However, the exact reason for this apparent attack is unknown. Encounters like this may be related to the transients avoidance of the Southern Resident community.

We had some excellent views of the seven transients surfacing as a tight-knit group. They would surface together and take about three breaths each, then go under for about five to seven minutes at a time. Today was my first encounter with any transients orcas, so I was especially excited to see this group today.

(The Transient/J Pod story was summarized from a depiction of the encounter in Transients: Mammal-Hunting Killer Whales by John B. Ford & Graeme M. Falls.)

Ashley, Naturalist

Orcas spread out on the west side of SJI

Orcas in our waters today off of San Juan Island...we had the choice of heading north or south to meet up with them. We went south in our smaller boat the Kittiwake, while our larger boat Sea Lion went around the north. Heard they had a great show as did we!

The water was a little lumpy off the south end, but we spotted a few Orcas spread out and changing direction. No positive IDs on who it was. We were offshore and heading east with the whales very spread out, so we decided to take a little detour around Long Island and look for Bald Eagles. One of our guests spotted a sub-adult at the top of a tree and then we went over to look at a nest nearby, where the adult was waiting at the tip top of a tree scouting for prey.

A fellow whale watching boat called us to tell us they found another group of Orcas just off American Camp on San Juan Island. So back we went to take another look! The seas were calming, and when we arrived on site we were lucky enough to have a great encounter with 3 Orcas. After a good look at the saddle patch of 2 adults and seeing a young calf, I am quite certain it was L-83 with her new calf L-110!! (L-110 will turn 1 year old in August!) Swimming with them was either her L-110's aunt L-91 or grandmother L-47. Such great looks at all 3! The baby L-110 was active, frequently changing direction and tail slapping, traveling a little ways from mom L-83. As we left the scene there was another female and a male seen heading east just offshore.

-Jaclyn, naturalist

Photo courtesy of one of our guests Herb. Taken last week, ~July 19th, large male Orca approaching Kittiwake, our smaller whale watching boat! What a show!!

You have to have Faith.

Today I was out with Captain Craig and Naturalist Ashley. We went up north to the east of Saturna island. J-pod and L-pod families were there. We had a lot of breaches up out of the water and tail slapping. There were not a lot of other boats around, and we had some excellently clear views.

Mt. Baker itself was a far off ghost mountain, towering mysteriously in the sky. With the clouds, it seemed to be floating. Hello, ice and wind and wildflowers! Hello home!

One of the orcas we saw today was my favorite from L-pod: Faith. He is a large male with a grown dorsal fin. We enjoyed his company for quite a time.

What a good day!

-Sarah, Naturalist

*Photo is from Mr. Herb from earlier this week.

Weeest!

Today Captain Mike, Naturalist Megan, and I all went to the west side of San Juan Island. The water was a little rougher than usual, but nothing that holding on couldn't fix! We cruised along, and shared about orcas and the islands while traveling. Everyone was happy to be here in the San Juans, and many commented on how beautiful the area is. It makes me happy to hear it, since I grew up in the Pacific Northwest!

We all gathered to watch J-pod family members today. Mike, his little sister J-42, and their mother Slick were together. The large male Ruffles was swimming with them too. Ruffles is such a unique orca, that it is always fun to watch him. He was fishing today. There a few others farther away that we couldn't identify, but I'm sure they were from the J's.

Until Tomorrow!

-Sarah, Naturalist

Rare glimpse at Peregrine Falcon Off San Juan Island

Here is a Peregrine Falcon taken by Michael Bertrand while the boat was moving and the bird was moving.Michael is a major name in Washington State. His professional photos can be viewed at:http://www.michaelbertrandphotography.com/ Here again is the Peregrine Falcon from Sunday July 6, 2008
Here are two mature Bald Eagles also taken off the boat that same day.
The large rock is an example of a glacier erratic.
Quite numerous here in the San Juan Islands.

A day of J Pod meandering along the westside of San Juan Island

With both our trusty vessels, the Sea Lion and Kittiwake, loaded with guests, we departed Friday Harbor in search of the beloved Southern Resident Community of orcas. Having heard word that the orcas were on the western side of San Juan Island heading north, we decided to head north to meet them. However, as we always tell the guests, the orcas here are wild animals - and therefore can do whatever they want. This was exactly the case today. A passenger aboard the Kittiwake (a faithful guest, who we were fortunate enough to have aboard our boats numerous times this week) commented that he had seen the orcas at Lime Kiln Point in the morning, heading south. Well, as we rounded the northern side of the island, we heard they had decided to head south again.
When we caught up to the group, which we determined was members of J Pod, they were meandering close to shore without any sort of driven-purpose. A group of about six orcas were travelling close, side by side, slowly making their way south. We stayed with the group for a while, enjoying views of numerous dorsal fins surfacing simultaneously. After, we jetted further south down the islands and caught a few views of J26, Mike, as he travelled in our general direction. His dorsal fin leans a bit to the left, making him easy to identify when he is heading toward or away from the boat. After spending time with the orcas and a mess of others boats (it was crowded on the water today) we headed south, to make a circumnavigation of the island. We stopped at Long Island along the way to check out the Bald Eagle nest and watch a few Harbor Seals laying out on the rocks in the sun. The Harbor Seals were more friendly today then they usually are. There was a group of about twenty seals in the water checking us out. Two seals close to our boat tousled a bit, in a playful manner, as they seemed to also closely inspect our guests.

It was yet again another beautiful day on the island. I can only hope there are many more to come!

Ashley, Naturalist

Adventures with Captain Nancy and Sarah

This morning on the Kittywake Captain Nancy and I headed south of San Juan island to False Bay. We had an excellent time with J-pod! We once again had a beautiful day out on the islands-the fog cleared to reveal bright blue skies. The water was glassy like yesterday, and the boat was smooth both ways. The people were all very cheery, and made for a fun trip.

In the afternoon we were out again, this time deciding to head North. There were J-pod family members and K-pod together. We went up to Boundary Pass, and saw the large male Cappachino. There were several females, and we saw a lot of breaches! The water was sun-bright, but it wasn't overpowering.

Overall, today was as perfect as it can get. Thank you nature! Now...for dinner!

-Sarah, Naturalist

We headed far east, as J Pod decided to head west.

After hearing word that some members of the Southern Resident Community were in Rosario Straight, heading south, we jetted south around Lopez Island to meet up with them. We thought maybe the residents would start heading west, and we could meet them as they headed towards us. However, being the wild animals that they are, the orcas rarely follow our predictions. We travelled all the way to Fidalgo Island and watched members of J Pod travel south, close to shore.
So maybe they were actually going to continue south. Wrong! Suddenly, without warning, one by one orcas started heading straight towards our boat! We had no time to get out of the way, and watched as J 26, Mike, passed closely behind our stern. Then, after the oncoming orcas passed by, we re-engaged our engine to get out of their way. J42, the youngest member of J Pod, was her usual self today. She breached over and over, seeming to enjoy herself as she always does.
We had some fantastic views of J Pod as they decided to head west. This decision made by the orcas to head west delighted our second group of guests on our sunset tour because they were able to catch views of J Pod travelling north up the western side of San Juan Island as the sun gleamed over calm evening waters.

We had two excellent orca-viewing adventures today!

Ashley, Naturalist

Afternoon to Evening

Yesterday we traveled to the east of Lopez island. The J-pod family were there, and seemed very happy and active today. The calf J-42 was with her mother Slick, and she kept breaching and breaching! It was marvelously cute. The waters were calm, and the wind was only slightly chilly with my windbreaker on. We spent as much time with them as we could, and then cruised back taking Thatcher Pass through the islands. The people on board were fun, and we had a lot of teachers too!

During the evening we went out again, this time Southwest of San Juan Island. The orcas were close by the shore, and were easily seen against the light colored sand and stones in the sunlight. Slick and her baby were there again, along with another J-pod member Mike. The winds were still light, and there were hardly any waves at all. We all retured a little tired, but were content from a day well spent!

-Sarah, Naturalist

Orca Whales-Always on the move

Before we began our whale watching adventure today, Captain Craig had been informed that there were four to five foot swells out in the waters on the south western side of the San Juan Island. So, we decided to avoid a rocking-roaring adventure we left Friday Harbor heading north. But, as we began our journey up the San Juan Channel, we heard from other whale watch operators discussing the conditions, which (to our luck) had become calm. With a quick U-turn we were on our way south! This decision meant we would have more likelihood of catching up with the whales, which we had heard were travelling southwest off the south western side of San Juan Island.
After cruising along (over mirror calm water - whoa, did the conditions change fast) past the west side of San Juan Island, and offshore of Lopez Island, we found orcas! We watched members of J Pod and L Pod travel around us on all sides. It was hard to know which direction to look! We saw breaches in the distance, tail slaps galore, closer looks of some dorsal fins passing to both our starboard and port sides, and even got to watch L57 travel past our bow after we had shut down our engines to let him pass. We headed back eastward, and watched more orcas swimming in the distance from us. Right before we left the scene to head home, J42 (the youngest member of J Pod, who will be a year old this summer!) breach three times! It was the perfect way to end the whale watching portion of the trip. As we drove home we had the opportunity to view other Salish Sea creatures, including Harbor Seals, Cormorants, Bald Eagles (and a Bald Eagle Nest) and all sorts of seabirds!

What a great day!

Ashley Chapman, Naturalist

To the Frazer River and Beyond!

A group of orcas photographed by guest Adam U from the Sea Lion on June 3, 2008. Yesterday we encountered members of J and K pods waaaaaaay north of the US/Canadian Border just outside of Vancouver, BC and slightly south of the Frazer River. The trip totaled over 60 miles round trip! (But it was well worth it because we got to see the animals foraging for salmon just outside the Frazer River.)

We got some great looks at J17 (Princess Angeline) and her fifteen year old daughter, J28 (Polaris). Polaris is my favorite animal, so of course that made the trip even better. Our guests were excited to see the orcas, and the long haul up there built the anticipation even more. They were able to ask many questions about the animals and before we knew it, we travelled north of the coal docks and Point Roberts and could literally look into the city of Vancouver. This is the farthest we've been on a whale watch and our guests couldn't have been happier.

We caught a few breaches from a distance, but most of their time appeared to be spent foraging and travelling north. We left the animals just south of the Frazer and just in time to get back for our 5:30 trip. We have two trips going out again today and look forward to seeing where the orcas pop up. (They can travel up to 100 miles a day, so even though they were far yesterday, they could end up right in our back yard today.)


Megan Young, Naturalist

A Circumnavigation of San Juan Island to View the Orcas

Members of J, K, and L Pod graced us with their presence today. Captain Mike, naturalist Jaclyn, our guests, and I left Friday Harbor heading south. We passed around Cattle Point lighthouse as we told guests the story of the Pig War while passing American Camp. As we reached False Bay, we began to see dorsal fins!

At first, the orcas kept their distance, and we watched them mill about along the shoreline. Members of our Southern Resident Community were certainly in no rush today. They swam back and forth along the shore, they appeared to be socializing rather than travelling on a salmon-driven mission. As our trusty vessel, the Sea Lion, floated on the water, with the engines shut down, we watched as members of J Pod (J16, Slick, her calve J42, and J30, Riptide - to be more exact) snuck up next to us and began surfacing in an almost rhythmic manner. They surfaced close together, creating a tear drop shape, as the moved slowly northward. We left the group as soon as they moved far enough away so we could start the engine and travel safely out of their path. Up near Henry Island we watched J1, Ruffles, pass us to our starboard side and guests had the opportunity to check out the huge size of a mature male orca.

It was a bit more chilly today than it had been over the past few days, but the orcas are back around the islands, and that is reason enough to celebrate! The chilly breeze didn't dampen anyone's spirits, and the mountains, sea, and sky all shined in shades of crystal blue.

Ashley, Naturalist

J Pod's Return Brings Us Into International Waters

Keeping the north western San Juan Islands to port (a.k.a. travelling around them, keeping them to our left side), we headed towards Turn Point on Stuart Island. After a few days of the orcas being out in the open ocean, we were excited to hear word that the orcas were back! We met up with members of J Pod, one of the pods in the Southern Resident Community (a pod is a family group of orcas), as they travelled past Turn Point headed toward Canada.
As we moved alongside J19, Sachi, and her young one, J41, Eclipse, we crossed into Canadian waters. This gave our guests the excitement of an international journey to go along with their whale watch tour. With North Pender Island not far off in front of us, we watched J26, Mike, pass behind our boat. As he travelled away, guests got a fantastic look at Mike's tall dorsal fin, which leans to the left. Male dorsal fins can reach up to six feet tall in their twenties. This is after they start to grow straight and tall, or "sprout," which happens to male whales during their teenage years.

It was yet another majestic day out on the water. Just as they had yesterday, the Cascade Mountain Range (particulary Mount Baker) provided a beautiful backdrop for our wildlife viewing.

Ashley, Naturalist

Harbor Pups, Eagle Chicks and Enthusiastic Porpoise

What a beautiful day in the islands! The sun was shining and the water was mirror calm. These factors, combined with the fantastic views of Mount Baker in the distance, created a wonderful day on the water. Captain Pete, naturalist Nancy, a crew of cheerful guests and I started our trip by heading north west toward Flat Top Island. Today was a day packed full of baby animals - how adorable! The harbor seals are all having their pups, and we saw babies lying alongside their mothers all over the place! We even saw a baby nursing from its mother! There are expected to be around 1,000 harbor seal pups born this season in the islands. Harbor seal females all give birth at the same time, meaning there are harbor seal pups galore! We also saw an eagle chick sitting onto its nest, we one of its parents sitting not to far above it on an adjacent tree. The young wildlife seemed to be out basking in the sun, enjoying the beautiful weather.
We made our way to Turn Point on Stuart Island and were fortunate enough to have at least five Dall's Porpoise bow ride with our boat. The Dall's are so playful! Unlike all other porpoise, the Dall's enjoying bow riding alongside boats. In this way, the Dall's Porpoise is similar to dolphins, who love the thrill of surfing along vessels as they cut through the water. I love seeing them surface right below us, looking like they are having the time of their lives! They seemed to be spurred on by the enthusiasm of our guests, who squealed and screeched in joy as they watched the Dall's enjoying themselves. It was truly a gorgeous day and the Dall's porpoises seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as we were.

As we headed home, the sea breeze cooled us down and the sun continued to shine lovingly on our faces. Oh, the joys of summer out on the water in the San Juan Islands.


Ashley, Naturalist

A (nearly) cloudless day

Today aboard the Sea Lion my crew mates and our guests went east through the islands to Rosario strait, near the city of Anacortes. The cascade range was clear, and the sky was a brilliant light blue. It is always a bit colder on the ocean than on land, but I didn't notice until the ocean spray hit me as I leaned too far out! It was an exciting (and a little salty)!

We saw J-Pod family members today. Slick was with her calf! I haven't seen them myself for several weeks. The baby is very cute! I was happy to see them, and they reminded me of how much fun I had with my mom when I was little. They were also traveling with another female and a few other males, including Slick's brother Keet. They were all traveling at their own pace on this lazy day.

Now I'm back on land, and already ready to go out again!

-Sarah, Naturalist

Porpoising Orcas In Pursuit of....

The Orcas were moving, and FAST!! Found out the Orcas were at East Point, just off Saturna Island late morning and heading to the south...cruising at 10 knots....by the time we departed at 1pm they were already just off Henry Island, which hugs the northwestern end of San Juan Island! They were making good time...so we left the dock going south. By the time we met up with the "leaders" they were already south of Lime Kiln Light on the west side of San Juan Island. Unbelievable!! These Orcas really had someplace to be!

We think we saw K-42 amongst a small group of Orcas, assuming that her mother was in there as well (K-14, Lea). Most of the whales we saw were porpoising, which is what we say when they are traveling forward so fast that they seem to leap out of the water as they come up for air! There's just a great movement of water as they move, and their body lunges of the water! Amazing!!

The pods were spread out, which is fairly common, (they don't need to be side by side to be moving together, just as long as they can all communicate with each other underwater they know where to go). Some great looks at a group just offshore which included a big male L-57 (Faith), and about 6 others. Our guests got some great pictures showing both the dorsal fin and saddle patch of a few individuals. This allowed us to compare their photos to the Center for Whale Research's "Orca Survey" photos of all our Southern Resident Orcas, to identify the whales. We found that L-57, Faith was traveling with J-28 (a female named Polaris) and L-7 (a female named Canuck). Both J-28 and L-7 have nicks in their fins, just in different places on the dorsal fin so they were both easily recognized. Looked like a "sprouter male" (a teenager, maturing with a growing dorsal fin) in the mix, but not sure of the others....

From what we heard from other boat captains it sounded like all 3 pods were out today, on the move, presumably following their favorite food....Salmon!! Another great day on the water watching the whales in their natural habitat! :)

-Jaclyn, naturalist

People Watching

Photo Below: Photo of L7 (Canuck) taken by Adam U from our boat the Sea Lion during our season's first super pod.

Yesterday was probably the most amazing encounter I've ever had with orcas! We found J-Pod on the west side of San Juan Island near the Salmon Bank Buoy. The animals appeared to be swimming lazily about in their matrilineal groups. We began the encounter watching J19 (Sachi) and her calf (Eclipse) and J11 (Blossom) with her youngest son J39 (Mako). They were staying in a small area, logging and circling about in tactile groups (seemed to be reinforcing mother/calf bonds). We enjoyed watching this group for a while and then began to move up island where we encountered the J14s (Samish and her son Riptide, J30; with her daughters Hy'shqa, J37; and Suttles, J40). An older female, J8 (Speiden) was also a part of this group. They appeared to be coming right in to our stern and since we didn't know where the other animals were, we shut down to avoid disturbing them. We thought the orcas would just pass by, as they usually do, but Samish and her family had other plans. They came right up to our bow and logged (rested at the surface) about ten feet away! Our guests were thrilled and began hooting and hollering with excitement. The orcas actually appeared to enjoy the commotion made over them and J8 poked her head out of the water multiple times to get a better look at us crazy humans. I had a hard time maintaining professional composure because the orcas shocked me just as much as our guests. J14 and her son J30 were the closest and checked us out while her daughters J37 and J40 played alongside them. They observed us for about ten minutes before diving under the boat and popping up on the other side. The excitement didn't end there, however, J14 appeared with a salmon in her mouth. She paraded along the side of our boat, fish on rostrum! I couldn't believe how amazing this rare encounter was. They actually appeared to be people watching!!!!

As we left the scene, multiple animals breached in the distance. Our guests truly got one of the greatest shows of all time... and nobody was asking these animals to do it. They were just teaching us how amazing they are. I hope this encounter taught our guests some things are worth protecting... and these guys are definitely worth protecting.

Megan Young, Naturalist

The whales are back in town! Orcas off San Juan Island!

We spent a beautiful and sunny Sunday afternoon with the Orcas! Yeahh! We were all so excited to hear that our local resident killer whales had returned after their 2 day stint out in the Pacific Ocean!
We left Friday Harbor and went out towards the south end of the island heading out into the waters where Haro Strait meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca and that's where we saw them!! Originally we just heard the J-Pod and K-Pod were seen...no confirmed sightings of L-Pod.
We were quite surprised that our first look was of L-57 (Faith)...a big male with a very large dorsal and an unidentified female, hanging out offshore. Interestingly they were both going on long dives of 5-10 minutes!! We then repositioned to another spot and got great looks of J-27 (Blackberry, a 17 year old male), his younger brother J-39 (Mako, a 5 year old male) and who we think was their mom J-11 (Blossom).
Moving inshore towards San Juan Island there were more Orcas changing direction with many boats whale watching. We were extremely upset to see a private boater go speeding through the path of whales, without even slowing down after we sounded our horn to warn them of the Orcas nearby. It was very upsetting to see they paid no attention, because just then surfaced K-14 (Lea) with her brand new baby K-42, and older brother K-26 (Lobo, who at 15 years old is getting to be a large male). Luckily the whales were fine and continued on their way. We had great looks at this group! And the baby is so cute! But it is quite worrisome that some boaters are so unaware of their surroundings, especially when our endangered pods of Orcas are around.
We kept making our way south and then got a great view of J-16 (Slick) and her 1 year old female, J-42, and another small calf who she seemed to be baby-sitting. J-16 even did a few spy hops to take a look around!! A truly amazing day of whale watching, with so many small family groups and behaviors!!
On our way back in we got to take a peek at some Hermann's gulls, Pacific Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks, and a lone California Sea Lion as well! I think this was my most favorite day on the water yet this summer!! I love when we get a chance to recognize so many of our Orcas and share their history with our guests!

-Jaclyn, naturalist

An adventurous day off San Juan Island, with whales!!

A rainy thunderstorm loomed over the horizon....whales were moving off the south side of San Juan Island....do we brave it and go out?! Yes! With a slight rain delay, we left the dock just a few minutes behind our normal schedule. Everyone was a little hesitant about the weather...but then again, it's the Pacific Northwest and you never know what to expect with Mother Nature. Despite the chill in the air, everyone was very excited about the prospect of seeing Killer Whales (or Orcas) in the wild!! Off we went to the south end of the island where the whales were last seen heading offshore...along the way we had quite the adventure experiencing a quick downpour, where 2 guests braved it on our foredeck at the front, protected by some of our extra blankets! Then we moved through Cattle Pass, where the incoming tides, made quite a few currents, whirlpools, and waves as water rushed in through this bottleneck waterway between Lopez Island and San Juan Island.

Just past the islands, heading southwest we spot our first dorsal fins!! We get a few great looks of some members of J-Pod, one of our local resident pods of Orcas. After spending some 20 minutes getting some great looks, we are surprised a small subpod of whales nearby! J-16 (Slick) and her 1 year old baby, J-42 and 2 others, who we think were the older siblings, J-33 and J-36. The baby sure was excited today or so it seemed, because she wouldn't stop breaching!! After seeing them swim off, with a few more breaches, we turned back towards home. But not before seeing a little bit more of our local wildlife! Three bald eagles, (1 was a juvenile) nearby a nest, harbor seals swimming, nesting cormorants, gulls, and a rare sighting of a sea lion! A great day for wildlife viewing, and as we made our way back to Friday Harbor, there was one more treat in store...blue skies and sunshine!!

-jaclyn, naturalist

Family Ties

Below: Photo taken from our boat by guest and marine biologist, Adam U, of an orca family group on June 3, 2008.

Today was a perfect opportunity to learn about orcas and their family structure because we had the privilege of seeing two matriline groups of J Pod hanging out together. We saw the J11s and the J14s frolicking through the currents together just north of Lime Kiln Lighthouse and we parallelled them until Kellet Bluff. The rumor was that Ls were also in the area, but we only encountered J Pod animals north of the light. The J11s, which include: J11 (Blossom) and her offspring J27 (Blackberry), J31 (Tsuchi), and J39 (Mako); were the first group sighted. J31 was MIA in the beginning of the encounter and grouped up with her mom and siblings as they approached the bluff. J39 appeared in high spirits, as usual, as he breached multiple times and played games with big brother Blackberry. Blackberry was seen swimming on his back and slapping his tail and pectoral fins while Mako popped up around him. Tsuchi joined in on the play when she appeared and also gave us a nice breach. The J14s were also there, with the exception of J14's middle calf, seven year old Hy'shqa (J37). J14 (Samish) and her son J30 (Blackberry) and daughter Suttles (J40) met up with the J11s just south of Mosquito Pass and they swam together briefly before breaking off at the bluff.

Our guests were thrilled to see the orcas in their natural environment and swimming as tight family units. They showed us today just how tight those bonds actually are with J27, who's seventeen (a breeding age bull), still staying close my mom and siblings.

We also had an amazing encounter with J1, who surprised us as we came on scene. (Hard to believe seeing as how he's so huge.) As we approached he was seen in the distance with other boats. Just as we began to throttle back, he popped up on our port side. We quickly shut off the engine and allowed him safe foraging around our boat. Our guests were in awe by his size, grace, and beauty as he sliced effortlessly through the water after salmon. He looked nice and round, healthy and beautiful as ever.

We began and ended our orca encounter with J1. We left them moving north towards Stuart and hope to meet up with them again on our sunset trip tonight. The orcas are so magnificent and it's a gift each time we see them and are able to share them with the public in hopes of fostering a sense of concern and conservation.

Megan, Naturalist