A Plethora of Playmates

It would be easier for me to list the animals that we did not see today, rather than to list the ones that we did. I think that the only sightings that we did not log were of the Titanic and the Loch Ness Monster. Jaclyn and I could hardly contain our excitement, which is to say that we completely abandoned all trappings of professionalism to run around the boat screaming, every time we saw something new. Capt. Craig insured that we saw all that we could today by monitoring the "chatter" on the radio and doing a wonderful job of getting us to each new adventure.

So, our line-up for the day was as follows:

• Orcas
• Humpback whales (3)
• Minke whale
• Steller's sea lions
• Harbor seals
• Dall's porpoises
• Harbor porpoises
• Bald eagle
• Common murres
• Marbled murrelets
• Sooty shearwaters
• Phalaropes
• Seagulls (various species)

I love the San Juan Islands and the Pacific Northwest and we at San Juan Safaris know that you will too. So from all of us, to all of you, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!

~Tristen, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Let The Nights Begin!

As spring advances towards summer here and the days become longer in the San Juan Islands, we at San Juan Safaris shift into our evening sunset tours along with the lengthening sunlight. This particular Saturday marked our first late tour of the season and it was a glorious one. The sun shone through a clear sky, but the wind made jackets a necessity, especially out on the water. As Capt. Peter maneuvered us out of Friday Harbor and I talked with the guests aboard the MV Sea Lion we received a report that there was a Humpback Whale not far from us. We quickly traveled south around Turn Point and down Griffin Bay.

We were nearly to Cattle Pass when Capt. Peter slowed the boat and told us all it was time to look. It only took a minute before I spotted a blow 450 yards away at Cape San Juan. This is a beautiful protected area on the southern tip of San Juan Island. The whale was right at the edge of the current line feeding on all of the food that was being pushed through Cattle Pass with the flooding, or incoming, tide. Because the water was boiling around us with the rushing of the tide we lost track of the whale a few times, but always quickly located him again. He was also swimming in erratic patters depending on what his food was doing. Two other boats joined us out in the melee as we tracked the beautiful giant out of the pass.

Once the Humpback had moved out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca we decided to seek calmer waters. We slowly traveled up Lopez Island looking for eagles and then cruised into Parks Bay on Shaw Island. The water was like glass as the land closed around us in the little bay. At the very back of the bay we had the privilege of seeing an Osprey sitting in the top of a tree next to it's nest. Finally, it was a circuit around Yellow Island and an aerial show by juvenile and adult Bald Eagles over a nearby island as the sun sank down.

Our first evening out epitomized the tranquility of the islands and reminded us all that sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses. So, from all of us to all of you, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

It's A Humpy!

This is a week of firsts, I am telling you. Today we were treated to another rare sighting and that was a Humpback Whale. Even the captain said she has not seen one of these in the waters directly around San Juan Island in two years. The whale did not seem to realize the frenzy that it was causing with the wildlife watching companies. Clearly it was just there to eat and not be a media star. Capt. Nancy, Jeanette and I fell under the whale's spell just like all of our guests on the MV Sea Lion. We anxiously awaited every blow and exclaimed as excitedly as anyone when we finally saw the tail fluke. The seemingly young animal was travelling, or possibly feeding, shallowly so there was only one deep dive and that is when we saw it's large beautiful tail. It was a great experience for my first humpy sighting.

When we finally tore ourselves away from the Humpback as it swam off into the sparkling waves we decided to go in search of seals and baby eagles. We cruised along the coast of Henry Island as it guarded the entrance to Roche Harbor and then over to Sentinel Rock. There we relaxed with the Harbor Seals as they indulged in an afternoon nap in the sun. A couple of Oystercatchers kept watch for yummy tidbits of food up in the rocks.

Spieden Island was quite today with it's golden grasses along the southern exposure. As we came up to the large eagle's nest a guest spotted an adult Bald Eagle cruising along the face of the island and then up into the nest. Slowly the front of the nest became visible and as the adult hopped out of the nest and onto a branch, up popped an eaglet. It is no longer grey and fluffy, but has started to get it's adult feathers. At one point it stood up tall and looked right at us with the parent sitting nearby.

What a cool day with our majestic wildlife and this week has been one wonder after another. The puffin and the Humpback and then a baby eagle. What magic abounds in this beautiful place. So, thank you from all of us to all of you and we at San Juan Safaris will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, 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. ©

Whale sightings Wednesday Oct 15, 2008

2 humpbacks 2.5 miles were observed today doing circles all day.

Also Transient Orcas were observed off Victoria staying withing the same 3 mile square all day.

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T. Time

Photo: T14 Tail Slap from our sunset trip. Photo taken by our guest, a marine biologist, Adam U.

Yesterday was a beautiful 80 degree day! Our weather has warmed up substantially and is becoming more characteristically consistent. The past four days have been sunny, warm, and clear. Yesterday we had three trips go out and each was unique with what we saw.

The Kittiwake, our limited adult tour, had an extended trip so they could see as much wildlife as possible. These 14+ charters allow for more leeway with time and where we go. Yesterday the Kittiwake had a whale of a day and encountered a Minke Whale, the smallest of the fin whales, a Humpback Whale, and the Transient Orca T14. It's always exciting to see different whales and dolphins to compare their anatomy as well as behaviors.

The Sea Lion had two trips. Each trip gave us a wonderful encounter with the wildlife that call our islands home. We had some playful Dall's Porpoises on our first trip who used our boat for "target practice" as they zigged and zagged around the Sea Lion. We even saw a Dall's jump clear out of the water, something I've never seen before. Our sunset trip allowed us to see T14. T14 is a pretty famous Transient as he helped to put an end to live captures in the United States.

We have a few trips going out today as well... call to reserve a spot now!

Megan, 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

More on our Humpback Friend

Humpback Whale Ventures Down Sound
By John Dodge The Olympian • Published May 28, 2008

Above: Humpback Whale fluke in Hawaii taken by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

A humpback whale that has spent the past two weeks lingering near Point Defiance and south Vashon Island appears to be a young adult in no visible sign of distress, Cascadia Research researcher Erin Falcone said Wednesday.

Falcone, who spent part of Tuesday in Dalco Passage photographing the whale, said it appears to be in good skin and body condition. The marine mammal research organization was unable to identify the whale because it didn't show its fluke, or tail, which contains markings unique to each individual animal.

Cascadia, an Olympia-based nonprofit organization, has thousands of humpback fluke photos on file from a just-completed three-year study of the North Pacific whale population. The multinational study involving about 400 researchers revealed a humpback whale population of 18,000 to 20,000 individuals, compared with 1,500 in the North Pacific when whale hunting was banned in 1966.

As the population recovers, humpback whale sightings in Puget Sound have increased to about one a year, Cascadia founder John Calambokidis said. Occasionally, a humpback ventures into South Sound, including a juvenile humpback spotted north of Johnson Point in July 2006 and another young humpback seen in Budd Inlet and Dana Passage in September 2004.
Based on dorsal fin images, which are not as conclusive as flukes, the Point Defiance humpback appears to be new to the area.

It was first sighted near Port Madison on Bainbridge Island on April 12, then settled into Dalco Passage between Tacoma and Vashon Island on May 12, said Howard Garrett of the Orca Network.

The whale was seen diving and surfacing repeatedly Wednesday.

The humpback, one of the largest whale species and known for its complex songs, was common in Puget Sound in the 1800s, before commercial whale hunting, Calambokidis said.

Local populations were all but wiped out by whaling by the turn of the century, he added.

This time of year, 300 to 500 humpback whales congregate to feed off the northern Washington coast west of Cape Flattery, he said.

Naturalist Notes:

This sounds like it's the little one we saw yesterday. This article was published on the Orca Network http://www.orcanetwork.org/. We were curious about this particular animal's behavior and called our marine mammal research friends, Adam U and Jean Olsen, as soon as we confirmed it to be a humpback. They got a wonderful shot of the animal's fluke yesterday, which they sent in to the Orca Network and Erin Falcone for indentification. Hopefully by figuring out who this guy is, we can piece together more of its story. It is our goal that by being active in the whale watch industry, we may see things that can help biologists develop a better understanding of cetaceans and how to help them. I'll be sure to let you all know when we get an ID on our humpback. We have a trip going out this afternoon at 1pm, and if we're lucky we might see this animal again.

Megan, Naturalist

Whale of a Day

Today was absolutely perfect! J-Pod was foraging between Cattle Pass and Lime Kiln and were especially friendly to the Sea Lion, our 55' vessel. The guests had amazing looks at J-1 as he parallelled our boat for about 15 minutes. He, along with J-16 and her calf J-42 gave us a great show. J-42 seemed to be in high spirits as she breached multiple times in front of the boat. As we continued up the west side of San Juan Island, we got even better looks at J-27 (Blackberry) as he surprised us right off out port side! He hung out nearby for a few breaths before rejoining his family offshore. We also saw Princess Angeline and her daughter Tallequah, but no looks at Polaris, Princess Angeline's oldest daughter (and my favorite). As if looks at J-Pod, Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and Mouflon Sheep weren't enough... we also saw a juvenile HUMPBACK WHALE swimming in San Juan Channel. Captain Pete has been doing this for twelve years and this was the first time he saw a humpback in the San Juan Channel! This juvenile was such a shock that we called a group of marine mammal researchers to come out and photograph the animal in hopes of figuring its story out. We will keep you posted on what they find out. Either way, the humpback gave us a nice show as it parrallelled us heading north up San Juan Channel from Shaw Island to Yellow Island. We even got to see some deeper dives where the animal hoisted its back out of the water and lifted its fluke (tail), giving us some great photo opps. Today was a perfect day... it's always nice when the animals lend a hand/flipper!

Every day is full of surprises and you never know what amazing things you'll see when you book a trip with San Juan Safaris.

Megan Young, Naturalist