Whale Watching

Exit the harbor and see what happens…

Katie — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:48:44 +0000

There are certain days when we go out on the boat and we have to travel great distances in order to catch a glimpse of the beautiful orca whales we have plying the waters of the San Juan Islands… Today was not one of those days! We literally left the dock, exited the harbor, and there were orcas cruising by the entrance of Friday Harbor. We didn’t even have to pick up speed! This was a group of transient mammal feeding orcas and they seemed to be lazily picking their way down San Juan Channel while casually socializing with one another. At first I wasn’t sure who we were looking at until a familiar large male with a fat, floppy fin surfaced. It’s T19B Galiano! The T18’s are here and they are by far my favorite group of transient orcas.

T19B Galiano peeks above the surface:

But who is the other group? There are eight whales here and the other group has one female, two juveniles, and a tiny baby. I quickly reviewed the photos on my camera and noticed the female had a distinctive notch at the base of her dorsal fin. Wait a second! I recognize that notch! And I also know that this female has a very young baby that was first seen in September of 2011. It’s the T2C’s!

Little T2C3 pops above the surface to take a breath while swimming next to mom, T2C:

It was such an incredible afternoon. The water was flat calm and we were able to enjoy a wonderful, long encounter with the whales.

And because we were so close to the harbor, we had lots of time to view all of the other amazing wildlife we had in the area such as Steller sea lions, harbor seals, harbor porpoise, bald eagles, and exotic wildlife of Speiden Island. We even had wildlife hanging out right at the dock. Right across the dock from where we park the boat, a cheeky little river otter was stretched out on the warm wood just soaking up the heat. The little critter appeared to be in seventh heaven:

You “otter” love the sun! Especially after a long, rainy Pacific Northwest winter!

Southern Residents! Whooo-Hooo!

Nan — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:42:16 +0000

I wake up Friday morning to pouring rain outside my window. Who would go whale watching today? I WOULD! By noon the sky is clearing and the promise of a beautiful afternoon is ahead of us. With a positive minded group of passengers…they left home in the rain…we head north spurred on by a report of whales heading north!

Haro Strait is calm today, the sun appears, and as our eyes scan the water we see three big fins, appearing ahead of a tug and tow, pointed north! This turns out to be a wonderful family group of five whales, one being a large adult male! We watch this group travel up the strait marveling at their size and grace.

There are more whales coming up from the south so we decide to dodge over and check out some Dall Porpoise by the lighthouse. They are so fast! These distant “cousins” of the Orca disappear in the swirling currents. We catch them with our eyes, but no encore performance for our cameras.

But wait! Seabirds off the starboard bow! Rhinocerous aukets bob near the boat. We can see the fancy breeding plumage and even the tiny “horn” feature on the beak.

Such fancy outfits! This relative of the Tufted Puffin is a real head turner today!

A little further over on the rocky cliff of Stuart Island we are surprised by Pelagic Cormorants nesting. I haven’t seen this area used in the last few years, but today there are the beginnings of nests appearing on narrow ledges and indentations in the wall face.

While we are busy with some of the other amazing wildlife in the Salish Sea, more members of J Pod and a few K Pod whales, and finally some L Pod whales appear. We are lucky today! It is early in the season for whales of all three pods to be together here, but then it’s wildlife and part of the fascination is you never know exactly what you will see or what will be happening!

On our way back to Friday Harbor we come across Steller sealions hauled out in full “soak up the sun” pose. This is the largest of the sealions and there is no mistake about that today!

A spectacular ending to a spectacular day!

Last Minute Luck

Katie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:09:33 +0000

Today was another day on the water that again reminded us that we just never know what is going to happen during our adventures. Every day is an unexpected surprise.
We had several nice families on the boat today including a family of three with an adorable nine-year-old young lady. The favorite sea animal of this little girl just happened to be orcas. Imagine how surprised she was to find out that she would be out on a boat searching for them for the afternoon - something her parents didn’t tell her until they checked in for the trip! She was over the moon with delight! However, we didn’t yet have any orca sightings reported for the day. We all hoped for the best as we left the dock.

We motored north through San Juan Channel. We spent some time around Spieden Island and were able to see some incredible, massive Steller sea lions, bald eagles, and the exotic wildlife that reside on the island. We motored over to Mandarte Island in Canada to check out the nesting cormorants that make this island home during the summer months. We were able to see some wonderful little harbor porpoise off Turn Point Lighthouse and some cute harbor seals sunning themselves near the Cactus Islands. We were having a fabulous trip as far as wildlife was concerned, but still no orca reports. It was getting late in the day. Time to head back to Friday Harbor…UNTIL! Captain Craig suddenly made a U-turn and we quickly picked up speed. I popped up to the wheel house to find out what was going on. Oh EXCELLENT! Orcas had just been sighted at Kelp Reef which was only a few miles away from us. Last minute luck smiles on us yet again! I made my way back outside to tell our guests what was happening. All were very excited and the nine-year-old orca fan beamed with joy.

After about 15 minutes, we caught up with the whales. We observed the group of transient (mammal-feeding) orcas travel north in Haro Strait on glassy calm waters. We could hear the whales breathe as they surfaced for air and we even saw a few youngsters playing around with one another.

Group shot:

The only semi-adult male in the group was T49C. This is a great example of an ID photo. You can see the two little notches in his fin and the scars on his saddle patch (the gray marking behind the dorsal fin) that are unique to this individual animal and help us to identify him:

On the way back to the harbor we were all very content…especially the nine-year-old. As I said before, today was a great example that we never know what is going to happen when we venture out on the water! Last minute luck!

April Showers Bring….WHALES…and Wildlife Wonders

Nan — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:43:32 +0000

The weather in the San Juans can be misty and grey….it’s the Pacific Northwest. It can also be suddenly sunny and almost warm…even in April. It’s the Pacific Northwest!

Friday we leave the dock at noon and head out with a confirmed sighting of our Southern Resident Orca whales! Yay! This is my first encounter for the season with the Residents and I am anxious to see my old friends. The sun appears and our group enjoys flat water and a very light breeze as we float off South Beach and see part of J pod head south…no…wait…head north! No…wait… They are very busy with the business of being whales, most likely checking out big areas for a great salmon dinner. What a grand afternoon in the company of whales.

The Steller sealions were big ,bold and brazen on Whale Rocks. Hard to imagine in less than a month they will be enroute to the breeding grounds and these rocks will look empty in comparison to today.

We spot an adult Bald eagle over on Long Island and after careful inspection we see another adult sitting in the nest! This is great news as perhaps we’ll spend the summer watching the events that lead up to eaglets fledging.

A wonderful day on the water!

Saturday seems as if it’s going to be a little more of a challenge as we have no confirmed sighting as we leave the harbor. The afternoon is a wonderful one filled with 10 Bald eagles swooping down to the water’s surface, making a quick “grab” and soaring up with something clutched in just one foot. Then they continue to fly while consuming the prey in flight!

Right in the midst of watching this incredible hunt, the news arrives: Orca whales in the opposite direction! Off we go!

A 30 minute run takes us to the south end of Lopez Island where Transient Orca whales swim swiftly along the shoreline. They are on long dives today and it takes vigilant watching to make sure we keep our distance. Who knows where the whales will appear next!?

Today there is one large male, T-49 C. He has two large nicks in the trailing edge of his massive fin. He is in the company of at least three females and a youngster or two. Almost appearing ”lazy,” they slow down and slip along the rocky shore. Then, suddenly, they are on the move out into more open water!

Time flies when you’re….watching whales…and as the hour we’ve been here comes to a close, we watch as they glide by us and out into Haro Strait toward the Olympic mountain range.

Our trip home takes us by Harbor seals and Bald eagles. A Steller sealion surfaces in front of us with a two foot dog fish in his mouth! One big shake and he snaps it in two. The first half disappears down his throat and as a gull dives for scraps, the sealion comes us with the head of his prize in his teeth.

A beautiful day on the water. A fantastic whale and wildlife cruise. I remind myself, each day there is the opportunity to see things that are unusual, a first for the season, or a first for life!

~Nan

Earth Day Orcas!

Katie — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:18:46 +0000

Today we had a very appropriate Earth Day present - J and K pods decided to visit! We had an absolutely delightful afternoon on the water with the whales as they rested in large groups while traveling north in Haro Strait. We were also able to see lots of other wildlife such as harbor porpoise, bald eagles, harbor seals and Steller sea lions! The weather was gorgeous (which is always a welcomed treat in the rainy spring Northwest) and it’s days like this that make us very thankful that we are able to spend time in this incredible place!

The J16’s - J16 Slick, J42 Echo, and J26 Mike:

Do You Dare? It’s Friday the 13th!

Nan — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 04:53:05 +0000

Who would choose Friday the 13th to head out on a whale watch cruise? Who would dare?

We leave the dock at twelve noon straight up! Seventeen passengers, Captain Nancy and Naturalists Nan and Chris are crewing today. This is my second day back on the water this season. I’m excited to see what wildlife we can spot, I’m excited to be out on the water on this beautiful sunny and warm April day, and I’m excited to share the magic of the San Juan Islands with guests from places far… like Holland and Belguim, and near… like Longview, Washington!

We start our adventure by heading up San Juan Channel, scanning the surface of the water for birds, porpoise, dolphins, seals, sea lions and whales. Today we are leaving without an orca “report” so the game is on from minute one!

At Green Point we find this incredible Steller sealion busy with lunch. But what’s on the menu? We can’t quite figure it out. Perhaps part of a skate? Or maybe a little piece of what was a huge fish? Pieces of prey are being thrown in the air, then picked up again for more big gulps of this delicious diet item!

We continue along the edge of Spieden Island to watch the Mouflon sheep and the young lambs as they graze on the hillside. Harbor seals pop their heads up here and there as they cruise the shoreline. A majestic Bald eagle perches on one of the tallest trees on the shore…looking carefully we can see the nest right below. The questions is…are there eggs in the nest? The answer is: wait and see. No telling today.

Haro Strait brings us great views of Dall’s porpoise, which is a special gift for one gentleman with us today. His great grandfather had this species of porpoise named in his honor!

How can the day get better? We continue our scanning to search for “any thing of interest” on the water. Of course, our hopes are centered on Orca whales, but no sightings yet.

As our Friday the 13th cruise is ending we have seen wonderful sights. We are approaching the harbor and the cell phone rings! It’s Tracy, one of our Naturalists and she is calling from the ferry. They have just spotted 5 or 6 Orcas!! But wait! It gets better! They are not too far from us…just around the “corner” so to speak. Captain Nancy puts the throttle forward and off we go! It took an extra hour and no one seemed to mind because we had a wonderful experience viewing Transient Orca whales searching for prey! My favorite phrase is more favorite some days: ”It’s never over until it’s over!”

What a wonderful day on the water with a true surprise ending!

~Nan

Fabulous Spring Start!

JB — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:25:19 +0000

Well, the spring has been in a word–exciting! We started the year in March again, and in the 7 trips we have run, we’ve had whales for 5 of them! And we’ve had amazing wildlife for all seven trips.

So far, our encounters with whales have been Transient orca encounters. Transients are the mammal-feeding orcas (you know, they prey on seals, sea lions, porpoises–things with cute faces), and it seems we’ve had so many different groups! Some of these groups we’ve never seen before, or at least we haven’t seen them in quite some time.

Photo courtesy of Katie Jones

The wildlife on Speiden Island have been amazing! With spring comes the arrival of the new baby mouflans, the baby fallow deer. All the while in the amazing green colors of spring! The bald eagles have been really recovering nicely in the last few years, and on one trip we spotted 14 eagles all in one area!

An early-spring treat has been viewing the Steller Sea Lions. These big boys (nearly 2,000 pounds and 10-12 feet in length) arrive in late fall and usually head back to the rookeries to be with the females by the end of May. They’ve been hanging out at Greenpoint on Speiden Island, sometimes playing gregariously in the water, other times sunning themselves on the beach (and the occasional dust-up over territory). These guys are amazing to see.

The Dall’s porpoises have been a bit elusive so far for 2012 (maybe because there are so many Transients in the area?), but when we’ve found them, they have been very beautiful to watch! Here’s a short clip of one of these fantastic swimmers:

Dall’s Porpoise Plays with Western Prince II

If this spring is any indicator, this year promises to be a fantastic wildlife year! Of course, any sunny day out on the water is worth the trip!

First Trip of 2012 (3/17/12). And what a trip it was!

JB — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 05:55:23 +0000

Wow! Wow! Wow! First trip for 2012 is now on the books, and it lived up to a first-day-of-the-season trip for sure! We left the harbor with overcast skies and the sun starting to peak out for the first time in days. We had no reports of whales from today, and yet we were hopeful that something would turn up. And it did! As we were scanning Boundary Pass, we got a call that a group of Transients were just below Pender Island, so off we went. Soon we could see a group of what appeared to be 8-9 Transient Orcas! They must have just made a kill as there were lots of seagulls around, and the whales were milling about and playing a bit. So we dropped the hydrophone just on the off-chance they might vocalize a bit. And the vocals were stunning. So many whistles and clicks, almost Resident-orca-ish! Lots of surface percussive behavior.

Then the lone big male (that was later ID’d by Dave Ellifritt from the Center as T12A) had a huge breach! His huge pectoral fins and wavy dorsal fins were very reminiscent of a certain J Pod whale.

We continued to watch these very active whales continue east towards Monarch Head and wondered who they were. Turns out they were the T109As and the T124As. After rounding Monarch Head, they proceeded into the bay behind it (which I’ve rarely seen whales do).

Soon they were passing by us and heading East, so we continued back towards the islands. And we were treated to by a very close fly-by by a bald eagle, who circled our boat repeatedly! Lots of harbor seals enjoying the full-on sunshine, as well as about 7 Stellar Sea Lions on Greenpoint. Without a doubt, this was one of my top 3 transient encounters!

John Boyd
SSAMN Marine Naturalist, Western Prince

One Last Trip…One Last WOW!

Nan — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:16:10 +0000

WOW! What a fabulous day on the water….and a memorable last trip of the season! Leaving Friday Harbor with promising weather and the news that orca vocalizations were heard on the Port Townsent hydrophone three hours before, spirits are high. The water is flat clam today and yesterday’s rain and wind have done an excellent vanishing act.

A stop right before Cattle Point turns into a birders paradise! An adult Bald eagle perches proudly on beach logs scanning the water for prey. Surf Scoters float in a large group ahead of us, and one Grebe pops around on the edge of the flock. Then two Marbled Murrlets appear bobbing off our port side and quickly dive…reappearing moments later a few yards away.

Little Harbor seal heads skim through the water on their way somewhere, for something.

On we go, heading out into Haro Strait. The water out there today looks, well….big. As in vast…huge…very expansive…and only two little dots far off for boats. Flat water….but no ripples in the water and no fins. We look and look….and LOOK. Finally, way out toward Victoria we stop. Splash! In goes the hydrophone….and instantly we hear it! J pod calls!! And the vocalizations are loud! They are close…somewhere close…binoculars pop up to every eye…and we look some more, but now with excitement and hope. This is a great day to have four extra crew along and all those experienced eyes scanning the horizon. Before long Chris shouts…”There! ” …and we know now, this last trip will be with Southern Resident Orca whales! Soon Doublestuf, J-34 is cruising and foraging off our stern. His mother then appears, and little sibling and cousin. In the distance we see a mother and calf. Whales! Lots of whales! ”

Now for the surprise! Two long backs suddenly appear on the other side of the boat! While everyone has been focused on the port side, the beautiful Orca whales…two Humpback whales have cruised along beside us. Engines silent everyone watches as Orca whales amaze us on one side, and Humpback whales amaze us on the other. One of the humpbacks is identifiable as “Split Fin” as the fin is clearly split in two. We are treated to a huge pec fin waving in the air as the whale rolls…and then a massive cartwheel as the tail stock flips through the air and crashes down in the water!

Which way to watch? No way to lose on this one!

The weather holds, we enjoy these amazing animals in lovely light, warm temperatures and flat water. But we are a long way from home, and time flies when you are with whales. Trust me on this.

Too soon it seems, but we turn back for the trip across Haro Strait and Friday Harbor. The whales continue west….we turn our bow to the east. I take one last, long look…and you know…I really do think that Split Fin waved a special goodbye. Don’t you? ”Vaya con Dios,” I whisper.

Looking up, I see….smiles all around!

October Daze…Autumn Haze…

Nan — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:18:24 +0000

October days offer surprises! The weather can be a picture perfect of the grey and misty Pacific Northwest….OR…exactly the opposite…with warm autumn sunshine bathing the islands, water and wildlife in bright morning light or golden glow.

The last two weeks have been outstanding in variety of animals, birds and weather. Even the exotic game animals on Spieden Island have been easy to see…clustered in the open grassy areas on Spieden Island.

Humpback whales! How amazing it is to see these massive whales, slowly cruising our local waters…in no hurry it seems. Hasn’t anyone reminded them of the long migration ahead? Appearently it’s of no consequence. We have seen both individual adult whales and adult and juvenile pairs. The numbers of Humpbacks have increased in the past 10 years, and I can imagine a time when we may see many more!

Orca whales! Yes! Both Transient and Resident Orcas have been in and out…out and in…many days during October. Some days we have found J pod….and then J and K pod…oh, wait…sometimes all three pods! This time of year I think I have more casual encounters….yes, always on the look out for salmon….but more time for socializing.

The Steller sealions have been growing in numbers and now show up at the north end of San Juan Channel often. One day we a large group surprise us, all gathered around the edge of the rocky shore…waiting turns for being the king of the shore? So many! Another day a California sealion lunges among a group of three big Stellers…all out on a group shopping trip in Spieden Channel?

A Harbor seal with a huge salmon “in mouth”…migrating Bonaparte gulls in winter plumage….Dall porpoise, Harbor porpoise, adult Bald eagles….I make entries for each sighting in the wildlife logof The Western Prince.

I know I’m going to hate to see it end! The last few trips are just days away….then we’ll tie the lines for the last time this season, button up the boat, walk up the dock…and begin the “winter wait.”

Waiting for a new season….with so many incredible memories to tide us through!