Orcas at Hein Bank

This morning we left Friday Harbor with very calm and glassy seas. It was a very beautiful morning, perfect for watching the whales and all the other wild life. Our first leg of the journey took us through the Cactus islands where were saw an abundance of Harbor Seals and their pups. We proceeded through Johns pass and travelled the North Shore of Stuart Island where we watched a Bald Eagle overlooking the water from its perch, probably looking for a good meal. After making our turn to the south at "Turn point" we continued on to Hein Bank where we topped off our morning spending time with the Orca. Members of both J and L pods making their way to the west side of San Juan Island to feed. This was a wonderful way to wrap up our trip around the island.

Captain Mike

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

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

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

The tails of the whales!

What an amazing afternoon! Another international crossing to catch up with our resident Orcas, the J-Pod, in the Gulf Islands, Canada. No worries, no passports needed on this trip! J-Pod was moving a little faster than expected, so we ended up passing Stuart Island, WA and moving towards N. Pender Island, Canada where the "trailers" (the trailing members of J-Pod) were hugging the coast moving nice and slow. We were able to have excellent views the whole time, due in part because these Orcas decided to show off a little for us. There were many tail slaps, as well as constant playing by the J-11 matriline (which includes her 3 offspring, J-27, J-31, J-39) and J-11's sister (J-19) and calf (J-41). (We think the whole J-11 subpod was there! And a few other unidentified members of J-Pod.) We had an extremely lucky day for all photographers onboard to snap some great shots of the whales spy-hopping, breaching and multiple belly rolls....maybe a training session for the younger pod members?? Either way we were all quite pleased with show of social behavior by the J-Pod!

-Jaclyn, naturalist

Lazy Day

Today was the perfect opportunity to take orca photos because they were logging around on the surface, making it easier to get a nice shot of them. We encountered J-Pod on the west side of San Juan Island just north of Lime Kiln State Park. They were heading north, but at a pretty lazy pace. Orcas don't sleep... at least not like humans. Humans shut down when sleeping, which works fine for us because our breathing is involuntary, or unconscious. However, orcas must breathe consciously, or they naturally hold their breath and must tell their body to breathe at the surface. If they slept like us they would suffocate. So they rest by logging together at the surface and going under as a group and coming up to breathe as a group... never going fully unconscious. Today we observed resting behavior, which was quite convenient for all of our aspiring photographers. It appeared that the Js were all grouped up for rest and affection, as some of them rolled around lazily rubbing each other, which is one of the ways they bond. It seemed like little J42 and her playmate J41, Eclipse, weren't in the mood to chill out and they were seen spy hopping and half breaching as if to beg their mothers to pay attention to them and keep moving.

We had a nice encounter with the orcas and then moved on to Speiden Island to see the Harbor Seals, Mouflon Sheep, and even a great Bald Eagle kill. The eagle was hanging out in a tree next to a nest and seemed to be eating a fish of some sort. Our guests really enjoyed the trip and got some awesome photos to remember it with.

Megan, Naturalist

Superpod + 1

Welcome back Ks and Ls!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was our first superpod of the summer! A superpod is when all three pods join together for socialization and mating. The rain didn't stop us as we headed out to Stuart Island to see Js, Ks, and Ls all travelling together. We saw multiple spy hops and tail slaps as they all grouped together for the first time after a long winter. The animals appeared to be in good spirits and nice and fat. We even saw a new calf, which appears to belong to K-14, Lea. Newbies are easy to distinguish due to their mottled coloring, wrinkles, and orangeish patches. This little one can't be very old and so we'll call today its birthday... which happens to be our office manager, Pat's, birthday! Happy birthday Pat and new little K baby!

Today was not only a treat to see the superpod, we also had a researcher guest on board in Adam U of the Center for Whale Research. He was able to get the inside info on the calf as well as provide us with a fresh outlook on the orcas and the studies involving the orcas. He also shared some of his great photos with us as well as fun whale stories.

We do our best to stay 100 yards away at all times, but sometimes the whales choose to come in and say hi. They came in to say hello today right off Turn Point as they surfed through the waves. (Don't worry, our engines were shut down!) We got nice looks at J-42 as she surfed with her mommy right past us with a male from L Pod as well as another J female.

Today was a fabulous trip. We saw a superpod, a new calf, multiple Bald Eagles, and all the Speiden fauna. It's hard as a Naturalist to hold some sort of composure when witnessing such a rare and incredible trip. I'll keep you posted on this new K animal and let you know how its doing throughout the summer. If mom is K-14, then this wouldn't be her first calf and hopefully we can keep this youngster around.

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

Eagles, and Dolphins, and Whales... Oh My!

Today, although a bit chilly on the water, was quite fulfilling as we saw seals, eagles, J-Pod, and even a Minke Whale. As stated previously, the orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family and are often referred to as whales. This confusion is caused by their other name, Killer Whale. Many times we have a dolphin encounters (seeing orcas), but very rarely is it actually a whale watch. The great Minke sighting allows us to say we saw dolphins AND a whale today. Minkes are preyed upon by Transient Orcas, but have been seen swimming in the midst of Resident Orcas. Today the Minke was just south of Cattle Pass, a few miles south of False Bay where J-Pod was foraging. The guests seemed to enjoy picking out little J-42 as she surfaced, face exposed, next to her mom, J-16. J-16 is easy to pick out due to her bright open saddle on the right side and bright saddle with a finger on the left side. She is made even easier to ID with a calf at her side.

All in all it was a fascinating trip with great views of the variety of life we have here in the San Juans. Until tomorrow....

Megan, Naturalist

Take Me to Your Leader

Today's trip took us back to Point Roberts to spend time with J-Pod. We had an interested group, calm seas, and sunshine to make the day even better. We spent about an hour with J-Pod watching them forage as they headed south towards Rosario. They were all spread out and we began our encounter with J-8, Speiden, and then moved on to view J-1, Ruffles, and J-2, Granny. Granny is the matriarch of J-Pod and estimated to be nearly 100 years old!!! Granny is the one in command and what she says goes. She's a fascinating animal and it makes you wonder what she thinks when she sees us. She's been around since 1911 (estimate) and has seen many changes in the Salish Seas. I wonder if she passes down all this knowledge to little ones like J-40, Suttles, who is her great-granddaughter and one of the orcas we confirmed a sighting of today. Each day we see different behaviors and it's just as exciting to see the guests react to their breaches, spy hops, and unique stories. Each animal is an individual and has their own personalities and it's fascinating to see how these personalities and roles are played out in their societies. Until tomorrow....

Megan, Naturalist

Close Encounters with a Star

As a Naturalist, I've been told not to get too attached to the orcas. However, this is difficult when we spend so much time observing them and when I've spent the majority of my life fascinated by them. I must admit that I have a favorite and her name is J-28, or Polaris. She is easy to identify by her bright, closed saddle patch and a nick halfway up her dorsal fin. I've been hoping to see her on each trip, but this trip was the best viewing of her yet. J-28 initially surfaced just off the starboard beam of our boat. She stayed near us in a regular 2-minute interval surfacing pattern and then began spy hopping, as if she wanted to get a good look at us too. After spy hopping twice, she disappeared and made us wonder if we'd lost her. Just as we were about to move on to another group, Polaris began kelping (playing in kelp) just a beam of us! She put on a fabulous show, as did her family about a quarter mile off False Bay on the west side of San Juan Island. Our guests seemed to love her as much as I do, which gave us all something to chat about on our way up island towards Speiden to see the Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, Mouflon Sheep, Fallow Deer, and one Sika Deer.

The trip was great, as usual, and held special meaning for me since I got to see Polaris. I saw little J-28 when she was almost a year old in 1994 and I was eight, making her the first wild calf I saw. Since then, I've kept up on Polaris and her family and every day with the whales is special for me and it's my goal to make it special for our guests as well. Today was a special trip and everyone had the time of their lives. Thanks Polaris!!!

Megan, Naturalist

Travel Buddies

Today was nice and sunny and J-Pod graced us with their presence once again!

We left Friday Harbor for Village Point, which is on the north end of Lummi Island in the Rosario Strait. J-Pod was heading south from Village Point at a good cruising speed of about 8 mph. They were spread out front to back and surprised us when a Minke Whale popped up with them. This is a RARE occurrence and our guests had the privilege of seeing not only J-Pod, but also the smallest baleen whale. We found this ironic because the Transient Orcas have been known to eat Minke, so this particular whale must have known he was in safe fish-eating company. A group of about 7 J-Pod members were seen surfacing right next to the Minke, with no negative interactions.

Orca are the largest members of the dolphin family and are not "whales" from a scientific perspective. (Although this confuses many since they are often referred to as the Killer Whale.) So our guests got to see eagles, seals, dolphins, and a whale!!! What a treat and what an incredible day. The air is warming up, J-Pod is back, and the flowers are in bloom. It's a perfect time to be on the water! Until next time...

Megan, Naturalist

Do You Want to See it All?

Below: J-1 on May 9, 2008 taken by Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research

Today was a spectacular trip! The weather was phenomenal, perfect for being on the water and the rumor of the whales was true!!! We took off straight out of Friday Harbor to bring our guests to East Point on Saturna Island in Canada, where J-Pod was reported to be. On the way we learned about the orcas, specifically J-Pod and their fellow Resident families. We also learned that East Point, where we were headed, was the scene of the first orca capture. Moby Doll was harpooned off East Point while swimming with her family so an artist in Canada could make a life size model of an orca for the Vancouver Aquarium as realistic as possible. We've come a long way since those days and continue to learn more about the orca and their lives. Our guests got a great look into this lifestyle as we watched them foraging and playing a few miles off Saturna heading eastward towards Point Roberts. We got great looks at J-1 and J-26 as well as a group of unidentified J-Pod females. They seemed to be in high spirits and breached and spy hopped multiple times. Our guests even were able to catch some pictures of those breaches, spy hops, and tail slaps.

But wait, there's more! We even got looks at a dozen Steller Sea Lions hauled out on Boiling Reef as well as Harbor Seals hauled out nearby. We even had time to head over to Speiden and see the Mouflon Sheep and Fallow Deer as well as a Bald Eagle sitting on its nest. The trip was fabulous and our guests and crew had a really great time. See you all tomorrow!!!

Megan, Naturalist

Plenty of Sun Shine Headin' Our Way

Below: J-1, Ruffles, taken by Traci Walters (a past naturalist) on one of our trips

The past few days have been wonderful on San Juan Island... the season is well under way and J-Pod appears to have returned for the summer. Yesterday we got a great tip from a friend that the J-Pod was travelling near Cattle Pass (The southern end of San Juan Island) and we headed south the meet up with them. They were spread out over a few miles and appeared to be foraging around. Of course, the first animal in our sights was J-1 and he gave us a nice show off the port side of the boat. We stayed with J-1 for a while, giving the guests a perfect opportunity for pictures since it's much easier to time a shot when the animal has a 6ft dorsal fin that gives away its position. We left J-1 to take a look at J-26 and what appeared to be J-16 and her calf J-42. We could positively ID J-1 and J-26, but the female and calf were a guess based off them travelling with J-26. J-16, Slick, is J-26, Mike's, mom and J-42 is his little sister (who will receive a name later this summer). Our passengers were thrilled to see the orca as well as the animals on Speiden, a cormorant rookery on Henry, and some Bald Eagles soaring above us.

The trip was sheer perfection and the weather couldn't have been better. We are heading out today at 1pm. The sun is shining and there's a rumor that J-Pod is nearby. It won't be long until K and L Pods return and the season reaches its high. Make your reservation today!

Megan, Naturalist

Whale of a Tale

Below: J-1, Ruffles, an adult male member of J-Pod and one of the most photographed whales in the world... he's pretty much a celebrity around here.

I know we often say every day is amazing, and that is quite simply because every day the animals and the group dynamic is different and all together amazing. However, today's experience was incredibly moving for everyone on board. We had an intimate group and we also had some great looks at J-Pod. This group was especially touched after hearing the plight of our whales on the way to Bird Rocks (off Lopez Island in the Rosario Strait). They learned about the toxins, captures, and depleted salmon runs and were motivated to take action, even if it meant on a small scale level at home.

As soon as J-Pod was spotted, our guests were so overcome with emotion that they couldn't help but tear up. Seeing the orca in their natural environment with their families really pulls at your heart and makes you want to protect our resources. The whales must have been in tune with our groups emotions and gave us some great looks at tail slaps, spy hopes, and breaches about 100 yards off our bow. One individual breached five times right in front of us!!! Every day is a learning experience and the more we at San Juan Safaris witness the positive impact these trips have on people, the more fulfilling the job becomes. J-Pod's males really gave us a show and of course Ruffles was looking as wonderful as ever as he spy hopped and breached in our midst. Despite the rain, we couldn't have asked for a better day and look forward to sharing our love of these orca with future guests!

Megan, Naturalist

Welcome Back J-Pod!!!

Below: Orca tail slap photo by one of our guests, Sarah Nylander.

Today was a fabulous day out! We encountered J-Pod foraging just west of Lime Kiln Lighthouse. The group was spread out over a few miles and we were able to identify J-35, J-26, J-11, and J-27. In fact, J-11, aka Blossom, came in relatively close to our boat and gave the guests a great photo opp. We also saw some breaching and tail lobs off the bow of the boat. All in all J-Pod gave us a great show making for an incredible trip. (Not to mention the sun was perfect!) We are crossing our fingers in hopes that this is J-Pod's return to the Salish Sea for the summer, meaning we will be seeing them more often now. We have another trip going out tomorrow afternoon at 1pm, so if you're in the area you should give us a holler! Until tomorrow...

First Trip of 2008

The first trip of the year at San Juan Safaris was the most successful trip of the year! We took a crew of 21 adventurers out yesterday with hopes of seeing some local wildlife. Little did we know what a treat we would be in for. There were early reports of transient orcas near Speiden Island as well as some confirmed sightings of J-Pod near Canada. J-Pod was said to be resting so captain Pete took us to Speiden Island to see the Mouflon Sheep and deer. We also had the treat of seeing over seven adult male Steller Sea Lions swimming just off Speiden's coast. While our guests were learning all about the Stellers, we were visited by some juvenile Bald Eagles practicing their hovering skills. Once the guests got their fill of information and pictures, Captain Pete and our new Captain Mike set out to find J-Pod. On our way to Canada we even saw some Dalls Porpoises playing in the waves.

Despite all the amazing wildlife we observed, J-Pod still stole the show. We were happy to see Granny and Ruffles leading the way slowly but surely towards Active Pass. The whales were not too active, but skimmed the surface steadily blowing and swimming together. Ruffles, Granny, and Mike were the easiest to identify. Unfortunately the newest member of J-Pod, born last fall, hasn't been spotted. This gave us the perfect opportunity to talk to our crew about the toxins in the water and their affects on our whales of Puget Sound. We were so pleased with the animals we were able to observe and learn more about. Our guests had a real treat seeing almost all the local seasonal wildlife there was to see. We look forward to another fun filled season this year and more sightings to come. Stay posted and don't forget to, "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!" Until next time...