Trekking Transients

You never can tell how a day will turn out. Even ones that seem to have the least number of prospects can turn out to be the most exciting. As was the case yesterday. With Capt. Craig driving the M/V Sea Lion, Capt. Jeff motoring along in the M/V Kittiwake and Nancy, Lauren and me crewing we headed off on a northern wildlife tour. As we neared Spieden Island though our plans changed drastically with the receipt of a report of transient orcas outside of Victoria harbor. Away we flew towards Canada and some black-and-whites.

The day was calm and the slack tide made the trip across Haro Strait lovely. 30 miles later, and nearly to Race Rocks, we saw those beautiful orcas. As we cruised along I was able to identify the male as T103, which was then confirmed by one of the other boats. The female that was traveling with him remained a mystery, but they made a majestic pair. They slowly swam west seemingly without a care in the world, affording all of the guests a chance to make memories of a lifetime.

Finally it was time to head back and what a different trip that was. Gone were the nice calm waters of our trip over. The tide had changed and the flooding tide, along with some wind, turned the Strait of Juan de Fuca into a rodeo. With 3-4 foot seas, we were rocking and rolling all of the way through Cattle Pass. The guests were having a ball though laughing as they got blasted by waves and watched the M/V Kittiwake bounce along behind us. Through the skill of our captains we made it back with all on board and in time to catch the 4:15 p.m. ferry to Anacortes.

So, another successful whale watching trip was logged by San Juan Safaris. Thank you to all of our fearless guests, captains and crew, and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Just Keep Swimming

All good things must come to an end and this is just about it. Today was our last weekday trip of the season. As of tomorrow, we will only be going out on Saturdays through the month of October and then we will be done for good. Do not despair though, the orcas will be back next season and so will we. In the meantime, here is the address of a blog that is both educational and entertaining and will satisfy your daily hunger for blog sustenance.

http://bitterendblog.com/

It is not the end just yet though, so as Dora from "Finding Nemo" sings, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming". And swim we did today. Okay, so we were not the ones swimming, because that would have meant breaking the first rule on the boat. No Swimming. But the whales were swimming and we motored right along with them.

Capt. Craig made my opening monologue quite difficult today by constantly coming to the back of the boat from the wheel house to give us updates about the orcas, to point out a seal, and to point out that I had not yet gotten the fenders up. Well of course I hadn't, he wouldn't let me finish my speech so that I could. Finally we were on our way and there surely were whales. Just south of Kellett Bluff we met up with ~9 orcas traveling north. They were well spread out and simply swimming north with no other apparent goal in mind. We followed along with them for about an hour before turning toward Spieden Island and home.

With the orcas popping up in ones and twos at various distances from the boat, I was not able to identify many of them. We did get a great look at L87 "Onyx" though, and he appeared to be on a date with L77 "Matia". Maybe there will be another new L baby. It was a special time spent with the orcas and we saw several eagles, as well as lots of animals on Spieden Island. But, the big highlight for me was when a peregrine falcon swooped past the M/V Sea Lion chasing after seagulls. The gulls were doing everything that they could to stay out of the peregrine's talons and while we were there none of them became dinner. It was a very climactic ending to our trip and helped to cap a most excellent summer spent on the water here in the San Juan Islands.

So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you excited by the wonders of nature, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Here Comes The Sun Again

After what appeared to be the start of fall and winter, we are now back to the September weather that we are all so fond of. September really is the best month to see the islands and today was a perfect example of that.

I welcomed a lovely group of guests onto the M/V Kittiwake this afternoon and we headed off on our tour. The orcas were at the south end and west side of San Juan Island today, so it was difficult to decide where to go. Capt. Bill did a fabulous job though, and after taking us up San Juan Channel, past Spieden Island and through John's Pass, we arrived at Turn Point on Stuart Island just in time to see the orcas shoot off of it and out into Boundary Pass. They were in a rambunctious mood today too.

The orcas were traveling in two large main groups that were closely packed together with 30-40 animals in the area. They swam at a fast clip, but spent a bit of time tail slapping and lobbing as well as breaching. Especially, near a research boat that was taking breath samples, so it was motoring right alongside the whales. There was definitely a lot of high energy and it must have translated to the other species, since four Dall's porpoises shot past our boat leaving rooster tails behind them. They headed north and after several hundred yards dipped down and disappeared.

The orcas though, continued on across Boundary Pass and up Swanson Channel past North Pender Island. We watched as long as we could, but we finally had to say goodbye to the orcas and Canada and get headed back home. Along the way we stopped to see harbor seals at Ripple Rocks and a lone bald eagle on one of the Cactus Islands. The day was warm and sunny and perfect and I am so glad that I have taken the opportunity to live this life.

So, from all of us here at San Juan Safaris, to all of you travel bugs out there, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Surprising Arisings!

Well, I can't tell you what a treat it is to be headed off on a wildlife trip with no hope of seeing orcas and then you get "The Call". For the past two days we have motored up San Juan Channel, swung north around Flattop Island and then been alerted of another boat finding orcas. Yesterday it was transients in Canada, today it was residents at the south end of the island. Both days, we had already informed our guests of the bad news of no orcas, but of our intention to visit the haunts of other wildlife in the hopes of coming around a corner and seeing whales. Who knew that our luck would be so good.

For both Jaclyn and I, yesterday marked a special first. We have seen many transient orcas, which look very much like our residents, but neither one of us has seen a transient eat something. Yesterday though, a little harbor seal was the target and he put up a very valiant fight to escape. With four well trained hunters around though, it did not stand a chance. The whole encounter was fraught with tension, but not the horror that most people would expect and the orcas were just doing what was necessary to survive.

Today was just as thrilling. We had finished looking at Flattop Island and were admiring all of the exotic animals on Spieden when suddenly, Capt. Nancy turned the M/V Sea Lion around and raced off into the channel. "Contact" had been made and what we originally thought were going to be more transients, were then reported as a family from L pod and turned out to be nearly every member of L pod with some of K pod as well! What a shock that was, especially since all of the reports had been of the three resident pods northeast of Active Pass in Canada going farther north!

Luck and good whale fortune have been with us this week and it continues to allow us to show our guests the beauty and majesty of the Pacific Northwest. These were trips of great memories for both the crews and the visitors and we were happy to have hosted you all.

So, from all of us here at San Juan Safaris, to all of you bold adventurers out there, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


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. ©

San Juan Island, where the whales are...

Today we headed north in the San Juan Channel. We had a few sightings of orcas earlier at False Bay on the west side ofSan Juan Island. We were originally considering going south. But as we motored out of Friday Harbor, we heard that the orcas were moving up on the west side of San Juan Island - fast.

So we went north and cruised past the south side of Spieden Island, which is just north of San Juan Island. As we looked for big black dorsal fins or a big blow from the bow of our vessel the Sea Lion, we saw a small, triangular fin. A Harbor Porpoise!

We then saw the big dorsal fins. Our first sights of orca were right off the west side of Henry Island. Henry Island is just to the west of Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. The orcas were fishing right off shore. They are intriguing to watch as they fish - going back and forth and back and forth. We identified some individuals by their saddle patch (just behind their dorsal fin). We were seeing K pod and a few of the L pod.

The Southern Resident community consists of 85 killer whales, making up three pods: J, K and L. K pod is actually the smallest pod consisting of 19 individuals. L pod is the largest with 39 killer whales. We watched the orcas for about an hour. They began moving off shore and heading south, down San Juan Island. They probably traveled right past Lime Kiln State Park.

We then headed to the Cactus Islands and saw what I believe to be a nesting pair of Bald eagles perched side by side in the top of a tree. We also got a great view of their rather enormous eaglet flapping its wings in the nest. I am always surprised with how fast eagles grow. We also saw a few Harbor seals and their pups swimming around.

Another great trip with San Juan Safaris.
Naturalist Jeannette Miller
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Peaceful Wanderings

As the orcas sought food and adventure in the waters of the pacific, so we sought peace and relaxation amongst the islands. We were without whales today, but our guests did not suffer for it. Capt. Nancy took the MV Sea Lion, guest naturalist Russell and me on a beautiful wildlife cruise under warm sunny skies.

Harbor seals with pups were on every corner and I lost count of all of the bald eagles that we saw. Mouflon sheep, along with sika and fallow deer, were all out on Spieden Island and the humped back and dorsal fins of harbor porpoises could be seen all around us. Even our tans were enhanced by the clean air, clear skies and golden reflections off of the calm waters.

At Turn Point on Stuart Island we were alerted of a peregrine falcon nest and fledgling, but were unfortunately unable to find them in the trees. Russell treated us to the stories behind some of the unusual homes found on the island though and I stunned the crowd when I told them about the one-room schoolhouse. The islands never cease to amaze and they rarely fail to impress. Such is life in this gem of the Pacific Northwest.

So, until the next time that you visit, thank you from all of us at San Juan Safaris and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Minke Maneuvers

Our evening sunset tours are very popular, but after tonight they are going to be the talk of the town. It is not every day that less than five minutes after you leave the dock you are with a whale. But on this night, that is exactly what happened. Capt. Nancy and I boarded our guests onto the MV Sea Lion for an evening cruise in the hopes that the Orcas that we knew were west of Victoria, B.C. would swim our direction. I had just finished giving the group some history on the islands and was stowing the gear when a customer on the bow yelled "WHALE". Capt. Nancy and I assumed it was a porpoise or a seal, because how could it be a whale, we were in Friday Harbor. But sure enough, up it came again and the blow gave it away as a whale.

As it turns out there was a Minke Whale feeding right in the mouth of the harbor. It slowly circled the boat in a feeding pattern as we drifted in the current. It would breathe once and then dive for approximately 2 minutes. The captain and I agreed that we had never heard of something like this happening before. Of course, just a few nights before I had watched a Harbor Seal feeding on a Herring bait ball right in the marina. The fish were right up next to the floating dock amidst the boats and the seal was maneuvering effortlessly through the water slurping up it's dinner. If it had followed the food into the harbor, there was no reason that the Minke couldn't do the same thing. Being only 30' long there is more than enough room in the channel for the whale to swim and move.

The rest of our tour was full of porpoises, eagles and we even caught a glimpse of some of the Sika and Fallow Deer on Spieden Island. The eaglet looks as good as ever in the nest on Spieden as well, and was busy chowing down on some dinner that a parent flew into it while we were watching. It looked as if snake was on the menu tonight.

The bounty and beauty of the islands is unsurpassed and we are all proud to call it home. So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris to all of you who dream to visit, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©