Happy Hour!

A wonderful end to the month of August....lots of Orcas..J, K, and some L pod members were all traveling together this afternoon! Somewhat of a superpod. (Other members of L pod were at the south end of San Juan Island today). They had been moving along to the north, when we arrived in Swanson Channel, a waterway in the Gulf Islands they were just slowing down and gathering together. We watched a big group with lots of whales all busy socializing! Amongst the group were J26, J33, 2 year-old J42, J19 & calf J41, L72, K12, K22 along with many others. Somewhat of a little happy hour...lots of activity at the surface: tail slaps, rolling over, pec slaps, half breaches, cartwheels. It was awesome...and a few of our guests were not so lucky on a past visit to the San Juans and realized just how special today was!

Signing off,
Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Oreo Doublestuff Cookie!

A foggy morning had one ferry very much behind schedule...but no worries....we are on "island time". Lots of Orcas out there today and they were in no rush! Nor were we.

On our way out I saw my 1st Stellar Sea Lion of the season! A big male, snorting as he surfaced and exhaled, swimming in Cattle Pass. I love these guys. A male Stellar can weigh as much as 2000 pounds! Just huge compared to our Harbor Seals which weigh in around 250-300 pounds.

J-pod, one of our 3 pods of Resident Killer Whales, was cruising around the southwest end of the island when we met them today. Flat calm, no bumps today...just a gorgeous afternoon. The Orcas were very spread out with some hugging the coastline off of Eagle Point & False Bay, while others were 2 miles offshore. Lots of directional changes, foraging, the occasional half-breach or spyhop....We had lots of nice views of J34, named Doublestuff, who's an 11-year-old male just starting to really "sprout" his dorsal fin. Not too far away was mom J22 (Oreo) and 6-year-old brother J38 (Cookie). The vocalizations of this family were amazing!! Lots of squeals, echolocation, and a faint call that reminded me of a cow moo-ing. haha! It was great! Later, J26 (Mike) surfaced showing his tall dorsal with mom J16 (Slick) just logging at the surface. Not to be left out, little 2-year-old Echo J42 came porpoising by...as if to say..."Wait for me!" A wonderful day...the Orcas were all off of Salmon Bank as we left with J14 and her offspring...(including the very small & cute newborn J45) in a close knit group surfacing together! Yet another day enjoying the natural beauty of our islands and its wildlife.

Hope to see you out here!
Jaclyn, naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Orca Recover Plan from National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS)

Here is the link to the PDF document. All 251 pages. Just in case you have not yet read.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/recovery/whale_killer.pdf
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Fishing Boat Capsizes off San Juan Island

http://www.sanjuanislander.com/index.shtml

Fishing boat capsizes off southern San Juan Island, two crew members medevaced

The fishing vessel Anna J sank off San Juan Island's South Beach at about 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 and two of six crew members were medevaced to mainland hospitals.

Charles Chevalier, Anna J's skipper and owner of the purse seiner, was transported by Airlift Northwest to Harborview Medical Center. He is in serious condition, said Sheriff Bill Cumming. Crew member Nick Nash suffered a head injury and was flown by Airlift to St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham.

Cumming said it is believed a rigging failure unbalanced the vessel causing it to roll and sink in 50 feet of water.

San Juan County Sheriff Dispatch received information that a boat had sunk in off the South Beach of San Juan Island at about 6:40 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28.

The San Juan County Sheriff vessel Guardian responded with three deputies on board. A Coast Guard response boat crew from Station Bellingham also responded. Witnesses reported that six people were in the water and were being taken aboard a commercial fishing vessel in the immediate area, Cumming said. San Juan Emergency Medical Services responded to Cape San Juan's Fish Creek Marina and received three injured crewmen from the Guardian. Three other crewmen were transported by the U.S. Coast Guard vessel after receiving them from a commercial fishing vessel. District No. 3 firefighters assisted in securing a landing zone at the Interpretive Center at Cattle Point Beach for Airlift to provide medical evacuation for two crew members.

Condition of other crew members determined to be OK, Cumming said.

IOSA is monitoring any spill issues associated with the sinking.

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Barn Swallows On San Juan Island

My friend (and neighbor) just sent me this adorable photo of baby barn swallows just fledged.
I think they may have been from MY barn, but who's counting.

Our barn fledged at least four nests this past summer. Since we have pet geese and pet llamas and horses on the property above us, nesting material is not a problem. Most of their nests had lots of goose feathers poking out, tufts of llama fiber and a couple horse tail hairs dangling from it.

All that is left now are the finely built, one dab at a time, mud nests.


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Oct 10 Dinner Gala and Auction People For Puget Sound

Click here to sign up. Fun and Tasty.
http://www.pugetsound.org/events/harborlights/harborlights

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Whale Watching Great These Past Weeks

If you have been following our blog or our twitter, you have seen what great orca whale sightings have taken place. Today will be yet another good day for orca whale sightings.
Labor day week-end is sure to be busy on San Juan Island. Get your reservations in right now!

Over and out,
Colleen

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Seasons Come and Go

"To everything, turn, turn, turn...", so they say and that is true of life here in the San Juan Islands. The indicators are small currently, but the times they are a changing. I saw a second Steller's sea lion in a week today, which means they are starting to wander back down here from Alaska. This one was probably another sub-adult male that was not that impressive to the females, so he is back in our waters to work on his physique so that he has more success next year.

These large otariids, or eared seals, winter-over here in The Islands and then spend the summer in Alaska feeding and wooing the women. They are a very large seal and their faces heavily resemble that of a dog. Amazingly though, they are directly related to bears. This is also true of harbor seals, but as a true seal, harbor seals are a step further removed and have been adapted to living in a marine environment longer than the sea lions have.

Another marker of the changing seasons is the end of our sunset trips. These were all lovely times on the water and I will miss them exceedingly. Of course, we still have our afternoon tours and we are still seeing our endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. Again today actually, we were off of the south end of San Juan Island and saw members from all three resident pods. The J pod males were there, as were either L7 "Canuck" or L77 "Matia", and K40 "Raggedy" with here brother K21 "Cappuccino".

There were many more animals around, maybe even all of them, but they were spread out in a way that made it hard to tell. It was definitely almost a super pod, just without all of the acrobatics and vocalizations. It appeared as if we caught them during a resting and traveling period, with maybe some slow feeding going on as well. Either way, it was a lovely day on the water and I truly enjoyed our guests as well as my co-crew Ashley and Capt. Craig. The M/V Sea Lion needs its recognition as well, since it has served us admirably this season and is a very comfortable boat to both work and sightsee on.

So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you wildlife watchers out there, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

ORCAS!

Residents and Transients

We saw resident and transient killer whales today! This almost never happens, transients avoid resident orcas, but today they were about 5 miles from each other. We went north, to Point Roberts. Here we watched resident orcas. We had heard these resident orcas were members of K-pod. As we watched these animals we noticed a big bull. We identified him by his saddle patch, this male was actually L-78, and we also saw L-2. L-2 is actually L-78’s mommy! Resident orcas have a very unique family structure, they never leave their moms.

On the way back, about 5 miles from where we left our resident orcas, we found transients. They we very close to the shore line of Patos Island. We even got to see a spy hop. This transient may have been looking for some seals. We watched and all noticed some of the subtle difference from resident to transient orcas. Transient orcas have a more pointed dorsal fin tip and seem to travel into smaller bays and closer to shore.

Remember our Southern Resident Orcas are an endangered species; anything you can do to help salmon will help the resident orcas, because that’s what they eat. “It’s all about the salmon”.

Always a great adventure with San Juan Safaris!

Naturalist Jeannette
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Into the Fog!

Residents have returned to our waterways! After 2 days in the Strait and ocean, members of the fish-eating Orca community have made their way back towards San Juan Island. They were just off the south end...moving from Salmon Bank inshore towards Eagle Point and False Bay.

The fog was incredibly thick to the south, masking the Orcas, other boats, and even the island in a damp sock of white. Jeannette and I were the lookouts for Captain Craig....this was what I call "extreme whale watching".....after well over an hour of searching and the Orcas continually eluding the boats in the fog we got our first peek at 2 dorsal fins. The calm seas allowed us to hear the blows or breathing of the whales better than we could see them! One whale spyhopped twice taking a peak above the water.

Jeannette was so excited to hear echolocation above the water's surface! With the hydrophone in we were able to hear more echolocation and vocalizations. The Orcas were lost again in the fog...we were ready to call it quits and head north to find other wildlife when we were graced with views of at least a dozen Orcas....lots of directional changes, they seemed to be fishing....(we saw several salmon jump throughout the afternoon).

Our guests got some nice photographs in the fog. I was able to ID J28 in the mix with several L pod members....L72 with her 5-year-old son L105 and and his uncle L95 were amongst the Orcas. We left to circumnavigate the island....(where? what island?) and suddenly it was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and the fog was just a memory.

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest! Another amazing day, where the weather and nature will always surprise you.

-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

T's!

There are two distinct types of orcas that frequent the San Juan Islands, transients and residents. Resident orcas are fish eaters and transients eat marine mammals. Today we saw transients, also known as T’s.

The T’s seem to specialize in pinnipeds. They behave differently than the resident orcas. They seem to travel in smaller numbers with usually about 3 to 4 animals. Travel more stealth like, vocalizing much less with an estimated 3 to 4 calls, especially when foraging. Some researchers believe they even control their breathing, so when they surface for a breath they do not alert their prey.

After viewing the orcas we took a little island and wildlife trip. It was beautiful! We saw marine birds, porpoises, seals and eagle nests.

Another great adventure with San Juan Safaris!

Naturalist Jeannette


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

The Sun Has Set

It was inevitable, but sad all of the same. Tonight was our last evening trip. We did not waste it though and we had a lovely group of guests out with us on the M/V Sea Lion. Even though there were no resident orcas tonight we still saw all kinds of wonderful wildlife.

As Capt. Pete toured us through the islands, we stopped time and again for harbor seals hauled out on rocks. Of course, there is always a method to Capt. Pete's madness and he was stopping at all of the places that a transient, or marine mammal eating orca, would hunt. The seals' cute faces watched us from the rocks and water as we glided by watching them. The pups are almost all weaned now and it is getting harder to tell the youngsters from the adults.

Bald eagles have had a good breeding season this year and all of our active nests have now fledged their chicks. With San Juan County having the highest density of bald eagles in the State of Washington, it is not surprising when you see them on each island that you pass. Ashley and I were kept busy spotting not only the adults, but the all brown juveniles as well. With the great evening lighting though, it was perfect for picking them out amongst the trees.

A loop out through Haro Strait unfortunately did not produce any Dall's porpoises, but the whole trip was heavily laden with sightings of harbor porpoises. Their little dark dorsal fins dotted the waters, especially anywhere that there were multiple currents mixing and churning. We did get a surprise though, when we came around the corner between the Cactus Islands and saw a Steller's sea lion. These guys are still supposed to be up in Alaska. This was probably a sub-adult male that just was not quite big enough or sexy enough to win any females. Hopefully next year will be better for him.

We closed out our evening with a cruise past Spieden Island. What an amazing way to end the most beautiful part of our season. The mouflon sheep, sika deer and fallow deer were out in herds. Every hillside and crevice was dotted with animals. They all mingled together, peacefully grazing on the dry summer grass. Several males from each species were out and the racks of antlers and horns were incredibly impressive. In our slow pass along the island, we also had chances to see the lion's mane jellyfish with it's blood red tentacles slowing sliding past the boat.

The sunset was a crowning glory to a last wonderful evening. So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you that spent your evenings with us, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Orcas As Logs

Tuesday evening I joined the "Sunset Whale Watching Tour" with a group of about 20 guests. We started out of Friday Harbor and down the east side of the island headed south. We had a good report of whales spread out from False Bay to Lime Kiln.

Goose Island, on the south end of San Juan Island, had been vacated by the cormorants. The only remaining proof of their habitation were the many stacks of nest left over from spring and summer. The gulls had pretty much taken over and this evening had a few harbor seals lounging about with the gulls. I did see a handfull of stray cormorants on the southern-most part of Goose Island.

We rounded the southern end of San Juan Island and headed north up the west side of San Juan Island. Looking and looking through binocular, I couldn't see any tell-tale signs of orca. There were a handfull of boats obviously fishing on the southish end, but no other whale watching boats. We kept heading north and when we were nearly to Lime Kiln we saw orca dorsals. We were one of three boats on the scene.

The orca were 'logging'. A slow - rhythmic down (just under the surface) and up- exhale- sink down. Resting. So peaceful. Sloooooooooooow waaaaaaaaaaaay down.
Were were about 250 yards from them with the engine off - doing our best to be respectful and quiet. We spent about 25 minutes with them and the entire time the orca stayed almost exactly in the same spot doing exactly the same thing.The current was probably about 3 knots. The whales moved just enough to stay in place.

We then gently motored off going further up north spending some time observing the animals on Speiden Island, in its trees and on its shore. A mature bald eagle sat in a snag seemingly, starring at us.

The lighting is so beautiful at that time of day. I noticed many guests with what looked like professional cameras. Hope they mail in some photos. The photo in this blog was sent in by a guest of her two daughters Sammantha (left to right) and Hannah.

Over and out for now,
Naturalist and owner,
Colleen Johansen

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Ahh August!

Boy, for being from Massachusetts, I sure have become acclimated to the Pacific northwest's 75 degree (F) weather! It hits a few degrees above 75 and I'm sweating. This is much to the humor of my guests, many of whom are coming from Texas, Florida (had some folks for Atlanta, Georgia, today), and other hot summer spots, who board the boats with jackets in tow. Today was like so many other summer days here in the islands this summer, hot and sunny! Due to what we like to call the "rainshadow effect" the islands are a little banana belt of sunshine almost all summer long - and this summer feels like it has been even sunnier than most.

Captain Denny and I boarded an eager boatload of guests aboard the MV Kittiwake. Having heard there were whales south and north, we decided to head north to what sounded like a larger group of whales. We reached members of K Pod passing between Kellett Bluff on Henry Island and Turn Point on Stuart Island. The whales were rolling around, travelling quickly at times, and breaching here and there. We shut off the engines many times throughout the trip and let the animals pass along the shoreline, watching them and listening to the sounds of their blows as the passed behind our stern. Guests snapped some fantastic photographs of the whales and watched with respect and admiration as the orcas travelled in small spread out groups toward Boundary Pass.

After saying farewell to the orcas, we cruised along Stuart Island's north side, passing through John's pass. We watched harbor seals swim and bob and juvenile bald eagles fly and land off of low-lying rocks west of the Cactus Islands. As we cruised past the Cactus Islands we saw two adult and one sub-adult bald eagles eating what appeared to be some sort of fish and looked at harbor seals hauled out on rocks half submerged in water. On the east side of Speiden we viewed the entire variety of exotic species that now call Speiden home and watched two river otters crawl down the rock face and dive into the water.

What a wonderful day out on the islands. I was glad to escape the heat in town - and couldn't think of a better way to do it!

Over and out,
Ashley, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Summer's back!

After last week's bit of rain and cooler temps, the temps are back in the high 70s here on the island. A bluebird day and a gorgeous view of Mt. Baker this afternoon just topped off our time with the whales. The L12s and a few other Orcas were out on the west side of San Juan today. The rest of the Residents were too north, coming south from the coal docks...a bit out of reach.

We met up with L41 (Mega) and his sister L77 (Matia). Orcas are identified by their dorsal fin and the white patch behind it. I have a really tough time identifying L77 from her younger sis L94...both Orcas have a small nick 1/3 down the dorsal fin, as well as open V saddle patch on the left and a solid saddle patch on the right! Anyhow the nick looked a little more like that of L77. Bro and sis were spread out from each other...changing direction constantly...my guess is there was some fishing going on. A bit later we saw 2 salmon jump clear out of the water!

Had a few other Orcas (2 males and 1 female) coming south from the Lime Kiln lighthouse just cruising right along. And for the number of boats out there today, I must say it was pleasing to see almost every boat giving the Orcas at least 100 yards of space if not more. A thanks to Soundwatch & Straitwatch out there today monitoring vessel traffic and increasing boater awareness on vessel behaviour around Orcas.

We topped the trip off by circumnavigating San Juan Island and taking a look at harbor seals and a few bald eagles before returning to Friday Harbor.

Hope you all are enjoying the sun-a-shining!
-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist, San Juan Safaris.

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Spectacular Sunset!

Sunday evening.....Pete and I were crossing our fingers, with reports of the Resident Orcas moving south from the Fraser River into US waters, we were hoping the whales would be within our reach. The majority of all 3 pods of Orcas had been at the Fraser River all day, presumably feeding on salmon migrating back to their spawning grounds. It was yet another calm day, with temperatures once again in the high 70s. Off we went....

Luck was with us! Although the whales had changed from a southbound direction to more of an eastbound one...towards Blaine, Washington we made it! The Resident Orcas were spread out, the water was glassy so you could see their blows a mile or 2 out! The lowering sun glistened on their black dorsal fins. We were shut down, as mother K22 (Sekiu) and her son, K33 (Tika) swam off our port bow, then double-backed in the opposite direction. We dropped the hydrophone in at one point and the Orcas were busy vocalizing! There was a possible J pod female travelling with K22 & K33. The occasional breach in the distance could be seen & heard...blubber on water...there's no other sound quite like it! We turned to start heading home, and stopped to get a great look at L41 (Mega) and his grandmom L12 (Alexis). We wanted to make it back to port before dark, so it was time to leave the Orcas as they continued to the east.

The sunset was the finale with the sky turning beautiful shades of pink...I just snapped this photo on my cell phone's camera!

-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Comment from guest: Walter Toops

Comments: just wanted to say what a great trip we had on the sunset tour sat. the 15th the crew was very nice and full of info. the two girls took time to talk to everyone and answered all questions. we got to see all 3 pods and they were very close and very active. its something my wife and i will never forget. thanks!!!


Graham, WA


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Orca Magic

Capt. Peter, Ashley and I spent the afternoon with "Spirit" and her boys today. A mother's love and authority are never in question and L22 gave a great demonstration of that. All was quiet and calm when we first arrived on scene. L79 "Skana" was doing his own thing and L22 "Spirit" was within sight, for us humans, but in her own space away from her son. They were moving at an exaggeratedly slow pace and "Skana" was above water for so long each time that he blew that we could see the small nick in the tip of his dorsal fin. The dives were long and there were some direction changes, but for the most part they seemed to be drifting with the currents.

Rather suddenly though, "Skana" and "Spirit" changed direction and sped up. They moved in side-by-side and were definitely traveling northwest. As we motored along trying to keep, we were surprised by another male orca that popped up right behind us. Nobody had seen him up until then. It was L85 "Mystery". He quickly joined the others, but then there was another and another! Suddenly we were watching a family of 5 orcas moving quickly through the waters on there way to somewhere important.

It is of course unclear to those of us above water how the decision to change direction and speed was made, much less who made it. But once the word went out, all of the family responded. With our resident orcas living in a matriarchal society, it makes sense that "Spirit" is the one that decides the who, how, when and where. It may be more diplomatic than that, but the decision was obviously agreed upon and/or followed by all involved.

We finally said goodbye to this proud family and wended our way back to Friday Harbor. Once at the dock we unloaded other proud families that had made many memories today as well as a connection with an intelligent and devoted species of the earth. So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Lots of Orca Whales at Point Roberts

What a trip today on the MV Kittiwake. We headed north in the San Juan Channel where we found some harbor porpoises off East Point. We then continued north.

The orcas were near Point Roberts Point Roberts is a part of the United States, but you must travel through Canada or Boundary Bay to get there. There once was talk of Point Roberts seceding from United States and joining Canada, but luckily that never happened.

I was really excited; we were seeing our resident orcas. (Resident orcas are the fish eating killer whales). There were around 40 animals, but it was hard to tell since they were spread out over a few miles.

We had some great visuals. They seemed to be fishing and then playing. Some guests snapped some amazing pictures of tail slapping and spy hopping. We just watched and listened for about 30 minutes. On the way back home, it almost seemed as if the whales were following us. They trailed behind us a good portion of the way back.

What a beautiful day it was on the water in the San Juan Islands.

Naturalist Jeannette Miller

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Superpod yesterday, Transients today!

A couple more beautiful days on the water here in the San Juans! Last evening, on our sunset tour as Capt. Craig had hoped for, we were treated to a superpod. The Orcas of J, K, L pods had all convened in Haro Strait. There were whales spread out in small groups generally heading north when we arrived on scene. They did an 'about face' and in large groups moved south till they all had met in 2 large groups. Our guests were in awe as we watched this mass of Orcas all swimming together to meet up and have a whale party! There were a few breaches, tail slaps, rollovers with a pec slap and then the grand finale....the pink sea snake! It was quite a show for all of us! We waved goodbye as they continued on to the south and we headed home.

This morning we were in search of this superpod, but received word they were out of our range. So instead, we focused on scouting the waters for the black dorsal fins of Transient Orcas. These killer whales feed on marine mammals, including our harbor seals and porpoises. It was one of the calmest days in Haro Strait....glassy and smooth. We were lucky to find a few harbor porpoise out swimming. Then a huge bait ball! Tons of birds...common murres, rhinoceros auklets, cormorants, heermann's gulls, glaucous-winged gulls. What a site! No minke whales amongst this feeding frenzy however. This trip was complete with a harbor seal that surfaced trying to stuff an entire salmon in its mouth! An incredible task, but well accomplished, with just a few gulls out for scraps.

This afternoon, another boat had spotted the Transient Orcas! We had a feeling they must be out somewhere, with the Residents miles and miles away. Generally when the fish-eating (resident) Orcas of J, K, L pods are out of range, then there are mammal-hunting (transient) Orcas in the neighborhood. Sure enough! Known as the T19s this group was out in Canadian waters. When we arrived they were "resting" (the term used for Orca sleep). Slow synchronized dives in a tight knit group. As they neared some rocks the small group split up, circling around and around. There were a lot of harbor seals resting just above the water's edge as well as a few unsuspecting seals in the water. If they did indeed feed, then they were quite graceful about it because we never noticed any sudden dives or charges below to grab a seal. The transients then continued on their way, back in a tight group hugging the shoreline. What a great day...and my first encounter with Transients of the season!

-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Sleight of Flipper

In these vast, life rich inland waters you just never know what you are going to happen upon. Even when it is an orca. One of our fellow whale watch companies was off looking for minke whales when, lo and behold, there were orcas around. The first reports were of transient orcas. These mammal eating orcas look just like our fish eating residents, with just a few small morphological differences and a vastly different diet.

Capt. Nancy gave the guests on the MV Sea Lion the run-down as to what to expect, but as we were headed south the news came around that the orcas were actually members of L pod. What a surprise as we had already told everyone that all of the resident orcas were traveling through Active Pass in Canada. The news did not change our plans, of course, because we are looking for those black and whites regardless of the type.

A group of eight animals is what we found near the Hannah Heights area of San Juan Island. Passing on one side and then another, while others blew in the distance were L73 "Flash", L74 "Saanich", L54 "Ino" and one of her offspring. As we watched, the sun started to burn through the high fog and clouds and brought a lovely light to the afternoon.

As the day wore on Kathy and I enjoyed the company of our guests and found eagles and seals and lots of seabirds. We answered questions all of the way back to Friday Harbor and were sorry to see the trip end. So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris to all of you, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
P.S. - To the wedding party parents from yesterday, congratulations and we delivered orcas for the ceremony right on time!

~Tristen, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Successful Solar in Seattle

A friend of ours just sent us this "solar success" story. She is a close friend of these folks and says this is a dream come true for them.
They have managed to get Pemco Insurance Company to place 36 solar panels on it's office. They have a sign facinf interstate 5 near the Denny exit, whishite notes the carbon saved and kiowatt hours created.
Bravo to the Sherwoods!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009614669_solarpie07m.html

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Echolocation

Our sunset trip was amazing last night. We traveled around the south end of San Juan Island toward the Lime Kiln State Park. K-pod had been sighted near the light house. As soon as we arrived we were able to identify K-11.

We shut off our engine and put our hydrophone in the water. The next couple of minutes were astounding. K-pod was being particularly vocal. It is currently understood that orcas use echolocation for communication, navigation and hunting.

The process of echolocation is fascinating. Orcas do not have vocal cords in their larynx, but are able to create sounds by moving in air sacs by the blowhole. The orcas send out these high pitched clicking sounds through their melon (fatty area on their head); these sounds then are thought to hit objects. The sound then “echo’s back”, sends vibrations through the lower jaw. It is believed that these animals are able to determine the distance, size, speed, shape and even direction of objects. It is also thought that an orca’s clicks can be heard up to five miles away by other orcas.

It’s always a great adventure with San Juan Safaris!

Naturalist Jeannette Miller
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Orcas!

The Orcas returned and were within reach today! Our guests were so pleased and excited to learn that today was their lucky day! The killer whales from J & K pods, along with a few L pod members had made their way south from the Fraser River down Rosario Strait to the southwest end of San Juan Island. The black, sleek dorsal fins of the Orcas' really contrasted with the calm, flat gray morning we had. They were very spread out, milling, feeding from inshore near False Bay out several miles from the shore. Just a beautiful morning observing the Orcas do their thing.

This afternoon we went to the south to meet up in the very same place with the Orcas! They had been going north with members of J pod around the Lime Kiln lighthouse off the west side of San Juan Island, when they all turned around heading south. We also heard a report of some L pod members coming in from their day in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Maybe they'll all meet up tonight for a little social hour?!
We had an amazing encounter and were caught off guard with a group of 5 Orcas coming our way. We were shutdown and had to remain that way till they were at least 100 yards away. They surfaced and dived playing with each other, changing from moving offshore to then parallel the shore. Our guests were dazzled when they heard some vocalizations even above the surface of the water! I love when it is calm enough to hear this occur! We moved further offshore to see L78 Gaia, a 20-year-old male along with his 16-year-old brother L88 Wavewalker. L88 is a "sprouter male", which means his dorsal fin is still growing and could reach a height of 5-6 feet tall like other male Orcas.
As I was looking through my binoculars at L78, I saw a scar/gash/unusual mark on his right side where his dorsal meets the body, before the saddle patch. A little later he had turned, and on the left side there was another scratch/scar starting just at the front of the dorsal. I'm wondering if something was caught around the front of the dorsal at one time, causing an injury? A neighboring vessel's captain had also seen it, but very well since they were looking into the sun. I'll be interested to find out a little more about the nature of this marking/scarring?....

On our way back to Friday Harbor, Captain Denny surprised us all with a sudden stop to see a harbor seal eating a salmon! The gulls were flying in to grab any bit of scraps they could. And the next time the seal surfaced, it had company...3 other seal heads looking around for more! At this point the salmon was gone. Certainly a quick meal.

Here's to crossing our fingers that the salmon run strong and all our wildlife, including the Orcas can hang around for the rest of the season to feast! Looking forward to more great viewing. Hope you all can join us!

-Jaclyn, naturalist
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Black-and-Whites of a Different Color

Not all black and white creatures are created the same, as well we know. No one would mistake a zebra for an orca. But someone might mistake a Dall's porpoise for an orca. Especially if the orca is expected and the Dall's porpoise is not.

That was not exactly what happened tonight, but it was a surprise none the less. Capt. Denny and I knew we would probably not see orcas, unless we were to happen upon some transients. The last thing we anticipated though, was to see Dall's porpoises in San Juan Channel near Cattle Pass. What a shock to see black-and-whites that were not orcas. Especially since the Dall's have been mysteriously missing this season. There have been very few sightings, least of all in Cattle Pass.

Well, we quick turned around and cruised in circles until the porpoises hooked on to the boat. They rode the bow and splashed through the wake. Famous for the rooster tails that they spray from their dorsal fins when swimming at high speed, they left trails as they careened around the MV Kittiwake. When we shut down our motor and just drifted with the current, the porpoises continued to circle and dive under the boat. They slowly calmed down, until we could follow their bold black and white markings under the water and see where they were going to come up for a breath each time. They surfaced time and again next to the boat and at the stern and we could hear them blow each time. The experience was beautiful and moving and was definitely one of the highlights of the season.

Of course, the other wildlife not wanting to be outdone, a bald eagle dropped into the water near our boat and grabbed a large fish, which he then devoured on the rocks in front of us. The evening just hummed with wild lives and we were allowed to share in it. So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris to all of you memory makers out there, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

San Juan Seal

Saturday, this seal pup was noticed in the early
afternoon just behind our San Juan Safaris offices
on the water front. We thought it could be the pup
of Popey - Friday Harbor's habituated female
harbor seal with one good eye.



Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Wow! What a day of Watching Whales!

Days like today reaffirm why I love my job - as if working out on the water, viewing amazing wildlife, and talking to all sorts of interesting people is a job that needs any reaffirmation - but anyway ... Captain Craig, Naturalist Kathy, a boat full of enthusiastic guests, and I left Friday Harbor aboard the MV Sea Lion and headed back in the direction many people had just come from - travelling, that is, the same route the ferry takes to get to us here on San Juan Island. The southern end of the island was reporting socked in in fog, making for less than ideal viewing conditions. Captain Craig had heard there were whales headed in that direction, but that there was also some orcas out in the Rosario Strait. We decided to head to the reportedly larger group of whales in a less foggy area (seems logical, eh?). As we passed through Thatcher's Pass, a pass between Blakely and Decatur Islands, we started to see whales thrashing and splashing in the distance.

When we arrived on scene, we travelled alongside a large group of animals travelling in a tight group. Whales in this group included Alexis (L12), and some, if not all of her children, including Mega (L41), a 32 year old male. This group turned out to be the whales that earlier had been headed south, but had turned around, apparently to meet up with a large group of orcas slightly to our north. We had some fantastic views of this group as they shifted their travel direction to head over to the other orcas!

After some wonderful views of the L-12 family, we didn't expect our trip could get any better! But, lo and behold the orcas decided to meet up and we witnessed something unique to the resident orca communities, but more common amongst the Southern Resident community - what appeared to be a greeting ceremony! This is where the two groups that are meeting up gather facing one another, then dive, mill, and appear to be greeting one another after some time of being apart. As the whales then began moving southward, they travelled close to shore breaching, tail-slapping, and also doing more cartwheels than I have likely ever seen in one day before.

To make a great day superb, the entire trip was filled with sunshine & smiles.
Ah, life in the islands!
Ashley, Naturalist







Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

ORCAS IN FRIDAY HARBOR???!?!!!

Wow! Yesterday (Saturday) was unreal! We were out on a morning tour in Canadian Waters viewing Orcas from J & K pods! It was a stunning morning on the water...a little fog to the south, otherwise clear skies & calm seas all around the islands. Both J & K pods were heading south from the Gulf Islands on their routine swim following salmon through these waters. We had great views as groups of whale would surface to breathe...and we could hear the blows (hot moist air) being expelled through the blowhole! A few breaches...tail slaps! After a great time with the whales, we were able to find a few bald eagles perched on trees and harbor seals lounging on the rocks. It was a perfect day!

Were we in for a surprise!! We were heading home when Captain Denny and I overheard our other vessel the Sea Lion talking to another captain about the whales. We looked at each other and wondered how can they already be there? They just left Friday Harbor not more than 20 minutes ago...we phoned the boat and to our disbelief L pod was in San Juan Channel!! More Orcas!! Right outside our home port of Friday Harbor. This happens on occasion (once a year?), but it is really unusual and such a treat!! Our guests were delighted! We were somewhat trapped from even getting into the harbor actually....the ferry even had to shutdown and wait for the whales to pass! There were a lot of boats out to also view the Orcas....it's important that we all remember during this excitement to disengage a vessel's transmission when within 100 yards of the Orcas, and whenever possible to be respectful and give them the 100 yards of space as required by law! Despite the boats, they sure seemed to be enjoying themselves...breach after breach and tail slaps as they continued south through the channel! Wow.

An unbelievable day with the whales!
-Jaclyn, naturalist



Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Songs of the Orcas

They say that there is a first time for everything and I believe it. While our orcas do not sing the way that humpback whales do, they can certainly make some beautiful sounds. Of course, they also make some rather strange sounds that resemble razzes.

This was an evening of magic, courtesy of our Southern Resident Killer Whales. As the whole J pod family plus some tumbled and rolled along through the waters, we could identify one individual after another. The calves waved their tails and the adults cartwheeled around. There was gambolling and splashing and big beautiful orcas everywhere around the MV Sea Lion.

The highlight for me though, was when J1 "Ruffles" and his side of the family floated to the top and one of them vocalized above water. At first I thought one of the boys that was standing in the bow of the boat was making rude noises, but soon Capt. Pete stuck his head out of the wheel house and exclaimed that the whales were vocalizing. Those razzberry noises took on a whole new meaning at that point and instantly became crystalline notes.

A grand finale of orcas moved across our bow then, with multiple blows and tail slaps and a big cartwheel right in front of us. We waved farewell to the indulgent giants and motored home in the afterglow of a stunning sunset and a magical, musical night spent with orcas.

So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris to all of you music lovers out there, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©