Orcas Near Protection Island Today-A Long Haul

On our Saturday trip we were delighted to finally see a couple members of the Southern Resident Community back around the San Juan Islands! Strangely, however, it was just K20, Spock, and her offspring, K38, Comet.K Pod members are rarely seen travelling for so long without the rest of their pod.

So, today when we yet again saw K20 & K38 travelling as a duo, people are left scratching their heads as to the whereabouts of the rest of K Pod. Luckily, though, seeing orcas is always awesome and we had a boat load of excited and enthusiastic guests! Captain Craig motored on through a flooding tide all the way down to the Olympic Peninsula (near Sequim, see map) to catch up with the two K pod member, who were headed east. We go where ever we need to in order to view whales.

As the flooding tide helped us homeward, we cruised past Long Island to check out a bald eagle's nest, then shut down the motor to stare in awe at the water rushing through Cattle Pass, creating white caps, and upwelling zones, and back eddies, etc.

The weather got better and better throughout the trip and we pulled into Friday Harbor more than satisfied after a fantastic day on the water.

Until tomorrow,
Ashley, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

While I was away. . . another orca baby was born

Maui is known for humpback whales and we saw many. The horizon seemed as though there was always at least one whale blowing or breaching on our 'oh too short' get away. A pair of turtles mated just off shore while we were breakfasting. It was mostly sunny and in the 70's.
We are back on island, misty and 45 degrees in the late afternoon today.

While we were away, Ken Balcomb, of The Center for Whale Research, documented a new calf while on the water with his collegues.
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The new calf is J45. The presumed mother is J14.
This make three new baby orcas for 2009.




Orca Whales Are Our Only Business. ©

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.

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

Touring the Islands with the whales!

There's nothing like being onboard a boat with the sun shining and a cool breeze blowing while circling all of San Juan Island and watching the Orcas travel along the entire west side of the island! We had a very peaceful and relaxing day on the water.

Met the members of K-pod out on the southwest side off of False Bay and got some great looks at that cute little baby again! Little K-42 (first spotted in just the beginning of June) was moving quickly, porpoising out of the water, trying to keep pace with the grown-ups!

The Orcas hugged the island's coastline the whole way, with onlookers from shore and kayakers getting great views too! The guests onboard were really impressed that we do stick to the whale-watching regulations and maintain the required 1/4 mile between ourselves and shore to give the Orcas their space. The pods were spread out traveling the whole time....a few occasional breaches and tail slaps and a wave of a flipper from a male! Moving offshore we sped up (we move away from the Orcas when we speed up as not to disturb them with extra engine noise) and caught up to a few of the trailing members of J-pod.

Once the whales passed we made our way around the north end of San Juan Island, past Roche Harbor took a look at a few harbor seals and soaring eagles near Speiden Island. Rounding to the east side of the island we felt a warm breeze blowing and checked out one last bald eagle perching at the top of a tree before arriving back in Friday Harbor. :)

South and Onward!

Today we went south past cattle point to southern Lopez. The waters were calm, and it was partially cloudy. These types of days I prefer, since the glare of the water is not overpowering, and the whiteness of the air makes the black dorsal fins of the orcas stand out and easy to locate. A few came close, and we were able to hear them breathing.

The families and adventurers who came with us today were very optimistic, and it made it a lot of fun to teach and enjoy nature together! We had a few young people who were excited and already very responsible. It made the trip even more exciting and all the more safe.

Interestingly enough, L-57 was traveling together with members of J-pod. Blackberry and Ruffles were easy to find among the other family and friends. The orcas were milling about and traveling without an obvious purpose. A few breaches in the distance completed our day of travels on the water.

-Sarah, Naturalist

Breaking News

Below: photo of the Superpod by Erin Heydenreich of the Center for Whale Research

Hey guys,

I promised I'd give an update about the new animals to our waters, being the small Humpback and the newest member of K Pod.

In regards to the Humpback, which we've named Dot based off the large dot on the underside of the animal's fluke. Apparently Dot is not the animal reported off Vashon Island because that individual was there the same day we saw Dot here and is a bit larger than Dot. This means that our friend's story is still a bit obscure, but we're working on finding out where Dot came from and if anyone else has seen him/her.

Center for Whale Research Report regarding K42, the newest member of K-Pod spy hopping below (photo by Kelley Balcomb-Bartok of the Center for Whale Research). Notice the discoloring? This is common for new calves and a convenient way to pick out a new baby:

Staff confirmed that members of Kpod and Lpod were among the playful social groups, though it has not been determined yet if all the whales from the Southern Resident population were present. During the encounter a small calf was observed swimming in close proximity to sisters K14 and K16, both reproductive age females. Later in the encounter staff determined that the calf was indeed a new calf in K-pod, and observed the calf primarily travelling very near K14 and her older offspring K26 and K36.

Megan, Naturalist