Easy to see who’s talking here!  Everyone!  What a fantastic day on the water, full of lots of action, sunshine, calm seas and amazing sightings.  The Steller sealions at Whale Rocks engage in a grand “Bully Contest” and woe be the sealion who is not boisterous, brazen and BIG!  Today there are over 14 Stellers who have returned to their winter cruising ground.  The game is mostly “King of the Rock”….although there is probably another game of “King of the Sea” going on as well.

We find two adult Bald eagles on Spieden Island in the morning, off nest duty.  Ahh, finally, time to enjoy a meal all alone!  No chicks visible today, but here is one adult perched high in a tree.

Looking up the hillside, I see another adult busy gorging itself on a dead animal.  Why not!  No calories lost in hunting this prey.  Just the work of pulling apart the food while keeping watching for danger.

But, let’s not forget the Southern Resident Orca whales!  We have wonderful opportunities to see these incredible whales on both trips today.

In the morning our trip takes us north up into Haro Strait as the whales cruise around the Stuart Island shore and are bound south.  All three pods are mixed in groups today!  Another day of “Super Pod” pleasures!!

It’s amazing to watch the families with youngsters zip past us.  Four calves, born in 2010 are present, as well as, YES!  Little K-44 swims by with mom!  Show off!  So, look who’s talkin’!  I’m just sayin’ !  It’s been a fantastic day!

Today we were able to catch up with some transient orcas down at Smith Island which is in the middle of eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca. First we made a quick stop at Whale Rocks to check out some amazing Steller Sea Lions. It’s amazing to see them here this time of year. They usually don’t start making an appearance in the San Juans until the first part of September, but we’ve already been seeing these big, grizzly guys for about a month now:

Today’s encounter was probably one of my favorite’s of the summer. Not only did we have all three pods in the area AGAIN, but this afternoon was clearly social hour for everyone. The orcas were traveling in big, tight play groups that were scattered all throughout the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Everywhere we looked we could see blows and whales socializing with one another. Here are some photos from today:

~katie

We’ve certainly been spoiled by the orcas this year. Not only have they been around practically every day, but we now have been seeing all three pods traveling together. Today was no exception as we puttered along with the whales while they cruised north in Haro Strait.

~katie

If you think you see a VERY small fin…you do!  This is the newest member of K pod, K-44!  Mom is probably the fin tip right in the front, and big brother following along to the side.  It’s been a magical few days watching this subfamily group in the K pod, grandmother, mother, new calf and big brother, all swimming together.  The smallest member of this foursome is three weeks old!

The trip this day is in flat water, bright sunshine, and the whales move about in small groups, very spread out. What luck to come across the group with the newest whale in the Southern Resident Killer Whale popultion!

There are more surprises….the steller sealions are back!  These massive sealions once again appear on rocky islands or hunt in the fast moving currents.  The tides are huge right now and cause whirl pools and white caps in Cattle Pass.  Perfect for fishing…especially if you are a marine mammal!

For that matter, the birds are abundant too.  The winter migration is in progress…the tiny phalaropes are back and dart about in Haro Strait!  We discover a fledged Bald eagle chick sitting on the ground on Spieden Island as the adult swipes the prey from it’s talons.  The chick “hop flies” back up the hillside as the adult swoops gracefully up into the nest calling to the youngster.  Hum, how to get “lift off”???  We all cheer as the chick succeeds at a flight back UP to the nest!

Oh…and the darling Harbor seal pups!  So many heads popping up everywhere with big questioning eyes!  Here’s a photo of “Mom and Me”….check out the mom cheek to cheek with her young one!  Whiskers….upside down!

We experience some wind later in the week, with whales heading north toward Canada in Haro Strait.  We watch as the families group up to cross more open water, and then race over to the shore of the next island.  Speed swimming is awesome!  Just as I say, oh it would be so great to see a spy hop now…bingo!  A big spy hop!  So, why not ask for more?  We do.  And they do!  Amazing!

Truly lots of surprises….big and small!

This morning our trip takes us to a meet up spot with some of the J pod whales from yesterday.  Only today they are headed south, and west…and toward us!  Before long we are floating along watching J pod females and males cruise the island shores in bright sunlight.  The blows create a sense of mist surrounding the whales as they speed toward…Friday Harbor?  Yes, right to San Juan Channel, joining the summer boaters and ferries in a busy busy place!

We took a little whale break to investigate some wildlife refuge islands full of harbor seals.  Some of the pups ride merrily on their mom’s back!   Bald eagles abound, and one spot has two eagles engaged in feeding off of something inbetween the rocks.

We beat the whales back to Friday Harbor, enjoying the sunny and warm weather.

Our afternoon trip took us right back out into San Juan Channel, and with whales so close, we have lots of time to investigate an eagle nest, harbor seal haulouts, observe a great blue heron and then, surprise!  A steller sealion is hauled out on the tip of Whale Rocks!  It’s early to have this sighting…so…it will be fun to see if more return soon…or if this one male is just on a very different schedule!  We enjoy the whales as they pass very close to the San Juan Island shore, cutting inbetween rocky islands and then heading up past South Beach!

A beautiful, golden afternoon spent with Jpod and the K13’s in Haro Strait. The whales were in a resting pattern for most of the day which created some breathtaking images:

Well!  Hello There!  Check out that little head sticking right with J-28, Polaris!

It is a great day on the water, with summer returning to the San Juan Islands on Friday.  Yipee!  We have the opportunity to watch J Pod travel up Haro Strait right along the north end of San Juan Island and Henry Island.  The whales are definitely in traveling mode and making quite good time at that.  They are grouped up together, and with probably all the J’s and the K-13’s it makes for a lot of whales at once!  Folks gasp at seeing so many fins come up and go down….then again, up and down…. like sycronized swim class!

The water is flat and fairly calm in the morning, but by afternoon the tide defines a different combination of whales and sea.  The families are still moving north, but now through one to two foot waves in patches of current.  We can see calm water over by shore and Turn Point Lighthouse.

Captain Pete decides to take a little break and we push the bow of Western Prince II up to “the wall” or cliff on Stuart Island, seeking out the falcons we’ve watched this summer, but they are perhaps hiding today.  Then, back for more views of the southern resident whales.

Our trip home takes us past some harbor seal haulouts with many pups sticking close to the mums.  Ah…and a few adult bald eages feeding on…”something”…on the the rocks near by.

As the whales continue north, we head south.  But what about tomorrow?

Another great encounter with J and K pods today up near Turn Point on Stuart Island. We were able to spend quite a bit of time with the new baby, K44, traveling with his mom, K27 Deadhead:

Our afternoon trip takes us out to the west side of San Juan Island, a favorite spot for our Southern Resident Killer Whales.  Perhaps the fishing is great today as the whales swim and breach over toward the shore.  Lots of action!

J Pod families move along together and it’s a beautiful sight!  Why does time pass so quickly when you’re watching whales and wildlife?

Today we find two eagle chicks standing in the nest, with an adult perched in a neear by tree.  Soon….fledging!  Each day I see the chicks, now fairly large dark shapes on the nest edge, I wonder if tomorrow they will be there?

Now that we’re half way through July the harbor seal pups are plentiful!  What a sight to see, pup riding high on mom’s back, or bobbing around in the currents.  Today we see as many as 30 little seal heads popping up here and there!

A glorious Wednesday morning and what could be better than to watch J Pod cross Rosario Strait?  Oh, well, maybe watch J Pod forage and cross the strait?  Or, maybe, forage and breach and race off toward Lopez Island?  Yes, all of it!

The water today is almost flat calm.  The sighting conditions are excellent!  We follow San Juan Channel through Cattle Pass and head off toward Whidbey Island.  J Pod is spending some time this year exploring the bays south of Anacortes and today we have a fine view of Deception Pass bridge as the whales swim past it.

The adult males swim further south, the females and youngsters cut across the strait, right past the channel bouy, and strike out for the south Lopez shore.

Our passengers today are with the Roads Scholars group, and this San Juan Island trip called “Whales and Trails”  is intergenerational.  We have grandparents, parents and kids together for this experience and it’s the perfect trip!  Sunshine, calm water and whales all around us!

It’s almost hard to wrap our brains around how amazing the whale sightings have been over the past several days. It seems like every time we venture out on the water there are more incredible things to see and surprises around every corner! Today we encountered a super pod off the west side of San Juan Island. A super pod happens when all three of our resident orcas pods (J, K, and L pods) join together in a giant, massive group. There is usually lots of socializing going on along with some mating behavior (yes… x-rated whale watching). All of the antics of the whales are such a joy to observe and should never be taken for granted. We had an amazing encounter with L55 Nugget and her two youngest kids, L109 Takoda and baby L118 who was born just this winter and has yet to be named. L118 sure is a cutie-pie!:

Well, today we had two trips out on the water.  And one thing I really love about my job is no two trips are ever the same.  For the first trip, we had a very nice group aboard the Western Prince.  And we had lots of whales to choose from (isn’t that a tough problem to have first thing in the morning.  Do we go to the Transients near Active Pass?  K Pod down at False Bay?  J Pod at Turn Point?  Well, we decided to go see J Pod, and by the time we headed up north they were already approaching the Pender Bluffs in Canada (which enabled us to “practice” our Canada-speak, eh?).  But our decision turned out to be a great one as for a nice period of time, we were the only whale watch boat with the whales.  We watched as a very large group of Js were slowly moving their way along the shoreline.  J27 and gang were definitely checking out the kelp beds, and at one point, the whales were being watched on all sides–us on the outside side of the whales, and harbor seals and people along shore.  Lots of surface percussives including spyhops and breaches!  Time passed far too quickly and soon it was time to head back to port.

A quick lunch break and then it was time to meet the passengers who would be traveling out on the Western Explorer.  So for me, different group of passengers and a different boat–and a different group of whales even (see, my job is varied!)  By the time we left the dock, J Pod was quite a ways to the north, but fortunately the Ks were still doing the “west side shuffle” along San Juan Island.  So south we went.  And as we headed out of Cattle Pass, we took a wide swing out past Salmon Bank and found a small minke whale.  Flat calm waters made spotting the whale from quite a distance easy!  Before long, we were off again to go see K Pod.  We were only with Ks for a bit before they suddenly veered offshore and began to vocalize quite loudly.  This just so happened to coincide with a call on the phone from one of our Canadian friends who told us that the members of L Pod that had been out west had made it to Discovery Island and were headed right towards San Juan.  So a short reposition and soon we were viewing over 30 members of L Pod!  L79 Skana.  L41 Mega.  As the whales got closer to K Pod, they began to slap the water with their tails.  At one point there were 6-7 whales tailslapping at the same time.  One female passed the Western Explorer and decided to push her calf onto her rostrum!  Lots of vocals, spyhops, a few breaches, and the whales began to mill everywhere at once!  Soon though it was time to head back, but we did manage to find 3 more minkes (for a total of 4).

Another awesome day “at the office”.

We had an incredible day of whales! We saw humpback whales, resident (salmon-feeding) orcas (K pod), and, much to our delight, a HUGE group of transient (mammal-feeding) orcas. There were 15 +/- transients traveling in tight group through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We saw lots of spyhopping and some interesting social behaviors. Normally we only see very small groups of transient pods, usually consisting of no more than 6 individuals, so this encounter was a very special treat because we were able to see so many. Most were juveniles and females and there was one big male traveling along with them. Here are some photos from the day’s encounter: