Whale Watching Report

9:30 am
We started our morning off by cruising through the inner San Juan Islands. The weather started off cloudy with a little rain, but as we moved our way through the islands things improved until we eventually had sunshine and blue skies. We found an orca superpod just west of Speiden Island. As soon as we arrived on scene with the orcas we saw action with several orcas breaching, a few doing tail slaps and one spyhopped at close range. The orcas were grouped up pretty closely together. This first group we watched included J-pod and L-pod orcas. Other orcas were spread out behind us and out to the west. All the orcas were swimming toward Stuart Island, and eventually many of them swam right against Stuart's rocky shoreline. They continued to be very active along the shore breaching often, cartwheeling, tailslapping, and spyhopping. 4 year old, Comet, K38 was swimming alone close to us for several minutes and then later mom, Spock, K20, came over to join the youngster. Spock swam right behind our boat giving us all a great look. Other orcas we saw included J1, Ruffles, L57, Faith, K21, Cappuccino, K26, Lobo, and many others. The scenery was beautiful as the orcas swam right next to shore up to the Tern Point lighthouse. We said goodbye to the orcas as they reached the point. On the way back to the dock we cruised close to Speiden Island and saw great views of the mouflon sheep, sika deer, and fallow deer. A large group of big rams were resting out in the open for everyone to see. We also got a good look at several harbor seals hauled out on the rocks in this area.

3:30pm
Our second trip started out with a bald eagle flying along the shoreline on Fidalgo Island. The superpod we saw on our first trip swam north this afternoon heading up to the Frazier River so we decided to look for some transient orcas that were closer to home. We drove through the inner San Juan Islands again and came out at the top of San Juan Island. We found the group of about 8 transient orcas swimming north in Haro Strait just west of Andrews Bay. There were several females, one calf, and a big male that looked like a teenager. The orcas surfaced many times and occasionally changed directions while we parallel viewed them. Our passengers got many good looks at all the orcas in this transient pod. On our way back to the dock we spotted a bald eagle circling over Battleship Island, and eventually he landed on one of the trees there. Conditions were calm as we cruised back through the San Juan Islands to the dock to end a great day of whale watching. Naturalist Bart Rulon

"Our adventure started in Rosario Strait as we headed southward we found Heerman's Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls, and Rhinoceros Auklets involved in a cooperative feeding act on bait fish at they congregated at the surface! The Pigeon Guillemots were even out with their young of the year showing off their two different plumage's! Colville Island provide our guests looks at hauled out Harbor Seals while the Strait of Juan de Fuca would later reveal just how Harbor Seals swim! It was near Eagle Point that we found the Orcas of the Southern Resident Community! All 3 pods were presents and were spread out over 5 miles even spilling over into Haro Strait! The first whale our guests encountered was Mega (L41)! This 31 year old male swam effortlessly through the water showing off his over six foot tall dorsal fin! Shortly after Nugget, Lapis and little L109 milled about in the waters near the boat! It was a morning for the youngsters for Lea had a lot to handle with her youngster K42, who was showing off its new moves! Little K42, born this spring, was backdiving and taillobing close to mom! The youngster wasn't the only one having fun we watched as whales breached, spyhopped, taillobed and even cartwheeled!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

"Rosario Strait lead us into the vast waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca! As we began our search for whales our guests encountered hundreds of Common Murres diving to incredible depths (up to 590 feet)! With the young murres in tow the rafts of birds created a patchwork of black & white at the surface of the water! Peering down into the water enormous Lion's Mane Jellies contracted in the water making their way slowly through its depths! Reaching Hein Bank the bird activity only increased with a frenzy of activity scattered around the bank as they fed on bait fish just under the surface! Watching the Glaucous-winged Gulls, Heerman's Gulls, and Rhinoceros Auklets paid off for a very hungry Minke Whale all of a sudden went crashing through the congregation of birds sending them flying!! After that grand display we found ourselves then playing the patience game as the whale became comfortable with us and we watched for patterns in its swimming! Being rather elusive we waited and watched as it continued to quickly break the surface! Then in one grand finale the Minke appeared just as it first did, breaking with speed through a bait ball sending the birds to the sky! The afternoon brought us back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and lead us to Smith & Minor Islands! As we drew closer to Minor Island it became quite apparent that we weren't the only visitors to the island! Sitting high above the other shore birds sat 3 Brown Pelicans!! Hauled out near the waters edge were over 50 Harbor Seals! We looked on Minor Island taking in all the activity and even checked out a Bald Eagles nest that had been built on its sandy shore! We then ventured southward towards Smith Island where 3 Tufted Puffins were swimming!! There is a small breeding population of these little sea parrots that nest on Smith Island! After a great visit with these beautiful birds we ventured back north towards Lawson Reef where a Minke Whale appeared!! We watched diligently searching for the whale through the small swell that started to develop! It surfaced a couple more times then a tug and tow entered into the Lawson Reef area! After the tug departed the Minke was no where to be seen. We ventured into calm waters where we found a Great Blue Heron flying along Young Island. We as a company pride ourselves on showing our guests whales and since many of ours guests didn't see the very elusive Minke Whale all of our guests will get another opportunity to join us whale watching again for life until they see a whale! We guarantee whales (Gray, Humpbacks, Minkes and/or Orcas) and love sharing our passion for whales and the other wildlife in the area!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

"Our morning started on the back side of Guemes Island as we entered into the Strait of Georgia! Watching Harbor Porpoise feeding in the tide rips and Pigeon Guillemots diving into the depths of the glassy water we entered into Rosario Strait heading south towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca! Our journey lead us to Hein Bank where we found 2 feeding Minke Whales enjoying a brunch of bait fish! We watched the birds as the smaller Minke Whale sent a tidal wave through the middle dispersing the birds all at once!! Among the birds that were sent flying were Common Murres, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets & Heerman's Gulls! It wasn't too long before the smaller of the two Minke Whales became quite comfortable with our presence and gave our guests an up close look as it swam right along our starboard side!! We watched as the two very hungry whales fed! Soon we found ourselves having to leave the friendly Minke Whales and returned towards the dock by the south end of Lopez Island! We stopped at the pass between Lopez Island & Castle Rock where we found a half a dozen Turkey Vultures, a Bald Eagle perched atop a rocky ledge took flight over our boat, Harbor Seals were soaking up the sun on rocky outcroppings, while pairs of Marbled Murrletts swam nearby!! The afternoon brought us back along the north side of Guemes Island where we continued up the Strait of Georgia! The strait produced hundreds of Harbor Porpoise gently rolling through its water, scavenging Harbor Seals swimming about, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots as we continued our journey north towards Point Roberts! Just south of the peninsula we found members of J & L pods milling around its shores! We received a special surprise from Princess Angeline (J17) as she passed close by not once but twice as we sat with engines off as the whales all began milling about quickly changing their course! Princess Angeline's daughters, Polaris (J28) & Tahlequah (J35) weren't far from their mom! Polaris seemed to be playing nanny from Eclipse (J41) as her mother Shachi (J19) watched nearby! We left as the sun continued sinking lower in the sky watching Ruffles (J1) enormous dorsal fin rise & fall in the water!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

We searched for Orca Whales on our morning tour in the area where we thought they would be but they were elusive! We were able to show our guests Minke Whales, Sea Lions, and Bald Eagles! We continued our search on the 3:30PM departure and at the South end of Hein Bank, Orca Whales! With some rain and a little fog forming, we were still able to eventually find the Orca Whales and we are the only American boat on-scene! Stay tuned for a full report from Naturalist Jami Nagel.

The Island Explorer 3 is off the dock in search of whales! We're heading toward Haro Strait to check out an early morning report of Orca Whales in the area. Stay tuned to the Whale Report for updates on the whales and lots of other wildlife from Naturalist Kate Janes! "Entering into the Strait of Juan de Fuca through Rosario Strait we made a long run towards Constance Bank! Along the way our guests enjoyed an array of wildlife! At Castle Rock a Great Blue Heron fished from its nice spot ontop of Bull Kelp, a mature Bald Eagle few overhead, and a couple of Black Oystercatchers hopped about the rocks looking for their next meal! In the strait Harbor Porpoise swam among feeding Red-necked Phalaropes, deep diving Common Murres, and the low moving beautiful Lion's Mane Jellies that floated by! We welcomed K & a portion of L pod as they reentered the San Juan Islands! The whales were quite spread out in small subpods swimming steadily northward! We enjoyed the company of Splash (L67), Gaia (L78), Alexis (L12) and Cappuccino (K21) as we listened to their exhalations which carried upon the water! They all seemed to be on a mission to reunite with the rest of the Southern Residents that were further north within the San Juan Islands! The party started that evening even before getting on scene with the Orcas! At Salmon Bank a Minke Whale breached an outstanding 3 times- fully breaching tail & all out of the water! It left us all stunned! In Haro Strait we found the Super Pod that fully lived up to its name! All three pods (J, K, & L pods) were stretched out over a few miles! The whales were in high spirits as breaching, spyhopping, cartwheeling, and taillobing could be offshore as well as right along side San Juan Islands shoreline! Among some of the whales we saw included: Mega (L41), Ruffles (J1), Blackberry (J27) & Mike (J26)! Their exhalations appeared white as they swam in waters that appeared black due to the basalt shoreline!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

9:30 Trip
We headed south today to search for whales. We stopped at Colville Island along the way to look at several harbor seals hauled out on the rocks there. As we traveled across Salmon Bank a minke whale surfaced right in front of the boat!! We turned around and let the Minke whale come up a few more times. Next we found the orcas near Eagle Point heading north. It was a mixture of L-pod and J-pod. We were watching the trailers in the group. They seemed to be looking for fish at times, but playful at other times. Early on we saw some cartwheels, and taillobs. Later as they moved north we saw a couple of great breaches. That's just what I was wanting to see! Just as I was pointing out one of the big L-pod males, L74, Saanich, another orca breached right next to him! On the way back home we slowed down to take another close up look at several harbor seals hauled out on Swirl Rocks, including one seal pup. We cruised near Castle rock and saw more seals, a great blue heron, and several purple sea stars. Just around the corner we watched several pairs of marbled murrelets. A research boat was out there and they had already counted 50 murrelets at the south end of Lopez Island. Then to finish off our trip with a bang, first mate Mark, spotted yet another minke whale in Rosario Straits! I think we need to start calling him "Minke Mark"! Naturalist Bart Rulon

3:30pm trip
The orcas that we saw earlier today moved north during the afternoon so we decided to start our trip traveling through the inner San Juan Islands to catch up with them. Along our way through the islands we saw a variety of wildlife including bald eagles, pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, turkey vultures, harbor seals, and harbor porpoises. As we slowed down to go through Pole Pass two black oystercatchers posed for us on the rocks at close range. We were getting close to the orcas by the time we reached Pender Island and we found a pod of Dall's Porpoise swimming quickly along. We found orcas just south of the entrance of Active Pass. It was a mixture of J pod and L pod orcas again. Early on DoubleStuf, J34, came in for a close up look. We also saw Polaris, J28, looking like she was chasing a salmon, Racer, L72, Fluke, L105, and Blackberry, J27, among others. We did see a couple of breaches in the early part of our trip! The orcas seemed to pick up speed as they approached Active Pass and they gradually moved in toward shore. By the time they reached the point most of them were porpoising right next to shore. We watched as they passed by and swam against the tide through Active Pass and we saw a couple of breaches off in the distance as we pulled away! On our way back to the dock the sunset was absolutely beautiful. There were just enough clouds to make the sky especially interesting. Naturalist Bart Rulon

Our morning trip today wasn't a normal whale watching trip. We had a private charter that we took to Friday Harbor for some shopping in the middle of the day. Luckily, L-pod was in a spot where we could give these passengers a short look at whales on our way back to the dock in Anacortes. We found 20 - 30 L-pod orcas swimming close together in a resting group offshore from Iceberg Point. Mega, L41, Matia, L77, Calypso, L94, Racer, L72, Fluke, L105, and others were there including Marina, L47, and the new calf L111. We saws the new calf many times to our passengers delight.

3:30pm Trip
Our second trip started out with rain, and a weather forecast that didn't look ideal, but it turned for the better quickly. Conditions improved and we ended up with calm sea conditions and the rain stopped toward the second half of our trip. We cruised through the inner San Juan Islands to start with. Along the way we found harbor seals, a bald eagle, pigeon guillemots, and rhinoceros auklets. We came out through Cattle Pass and found L-pod orcas spread out offshore from Eagle Point, on San Juan Island. We spent a lot of time with Mega, L41, Matia, L77, and Calypso, L94 in the beginning. All the orcas were changing directions often and appeared to be pursuing salmon. Some groups were more playful and active than others. We gravitated toward the playful groups, and got to see lots of different behaviors including spyhops, breaches and tail slaps. We shut the engines down several times to watch and hear the orcas as they swam by. At one point a big rainbow appeared and we had some of the orcas swimming right in front of it for a great photo opportunity. At the end many L-pod members, including Mega, approached us at close range for a great finale with our engines shut down, calm seas, and the sun doing down, all at the same time. What started out looking like a difficult weather day turned out to be two very enjoyable whale watching trips. Naturalist Bart Rulon

"Our adventure started in Guemes Channel as we passed channel markers, as known as cormorant condos, with Pelagic Cormorants perched on their nests within the marker! We continued southward down Rosario Strait watching as the Harbor Porpoise gently rolling through the water! To our delight we found a few pairs of Marbled Murreletts diving into the watery depths fishing! Also at Colville Island we found a mature Bald Eagle perched atop the National Wildlife Refuge sign, just beneath a Great Blue Heron sat fishing atop some Bull Kelp floating at the surface and 20 + Harbor Seals were found hauled out on the rocks! We continued on to Salmon Bank where we found our first Minke Whale feeding on the shallow bank! After a few great looks the elusive whale vanished! We then headed towards Hein Bank in hopes to find a second Minke Whale and did just that! This one, larger than the first, proved to be quite friendly giving our guests multiple close looks! The close looks also allowed our guests to actually smell its stinky breath!! The Minke zigged and zagged circling around Hein Bank among Rhinoceros Auklets, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Heerman's Gulls and Harbor Seals that were all hoping to grab a bite to eat along side the whale!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

"We navigated southward down Rosario Strait meeting the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the south end of Lopez Island. We passed the scenic wonder that is the south end of Lopez Island where our eyes gazed upon Colville Island & Castle Rock where the wildlife was bountiful! Pairs of Marbled Murreletts swam, Harbor Seals rested on the rocks, a Great Blue Heron hunted atop a raft of Bull Kelp and Pigeon Guillemots cannon balled into the water creating quite a splash! We continued towards Swirl Rocks where a Bald Eagle was found perched high on the rock! Once at Salmon Bank we noticed an increase in bird activity indicating bait fish just underneath the water! Then all at once a Minke Whale appeared through the small swells that had began to build! It was on its deep dive when its severely arched back would allow our guests a great photo opportunity!! On its decent into a shallow dive it appeared as if the Minke Whale were surfing atop the waves!! After visiting with the Minke we ventured into Cattle Pass stopping at Whale Rocks to visit one smelly pinniped! A very large Steller Sea Lion lounged atop the rock just above its smaller cousin, the Harbor Seals! Venturing into the inner islands we navigated its calm waters finding Harbor Porpoise along the way! Outside Thatcher Pass we headed up Bellingham Channel towards Jack Island where we found a mature Bald Eagle and one huge nest! The afternoon lead us towards Castle Rock and after encountering a building storm we ventured back north up Rosario Strait! Hugging the eastern shoreline we got great looks at the Burrows Island Lighthouse and encountered many Harbor Porpoise feeding in the tide rips! Continueing northward we stopped at Peapod Rocks to visit with some hauled out Harbor Seals! The evening produced much wildlife, however our guests didn't see whales! They however will get another opportunity to see whales with us for free, it's our guarantee!" - Naturalist Kate Janes