Written by Elah
on Jul 10, 2020

San Juan Island Summer Whale Watching is Here!

San Juan Island Summer Whale Watching is Here!

Summer in the San Juan Islands is upon us and we’re gearing up for a great season at Western Prince Whale and Wildlife Tours.  This is a great time of year to be out on the water.  Just 90 north of Seattle, Friday Harbor offers an excellent escape from the city for an overnight getaway or even just a day trip.  Both of our boats, the Western Explorer II and the Western Prince, are outfitted with social distance measures and additional cleaning procedures.  The Western Explorer II is a completely open boat with lots of fresh air as we cruise through the islands.  We’re running reduced capacity whale watching tours, multiple times a day, to allow for maximum guest space and viewing opportunities. Additionally, every bit of gear we use goes through our “Sanitation Station” between trips!

Our wildlife viewing this season continues to be action-packed! In the past week alone we’ve seen families of marine mammal feeding killer whales successfully hunting harbor seals.  In addition to the Marine Mammal Feeding Killer Whales, we’ve also been graced by the presence of Southern Resident Killer Whales, the endangered species of Orcas that uses the island waters as part of their key habitat. We’ve enjoyed killer whales on a majority of our tours in addition to humpback whales and minke whales, sometimes seeing multiple species of whale in one trip!  Humpbacks are back in these waters during the summer months while they search for food before heading south for the winter. We’re keeping our eyes peeled to see if any of the seasonal inhabitants of the Salish Sea have brought new calves with them as well!

This week we also had an excellent encounter with a lunge feeding minke whale as it continued to demolish pounds of small baitfish.  It eventually surfaced close enough to the boat that passengers wafted the pungent smell that only a stinky minke whale can provide.

It’s not all about whales on our tours.  Our family-friendly trips continue to search for all types of marine life.  Our harbor seals are just giving birth and we’ve seen lots of harbor seal pups hauled out on the surrounding rocks.  Here in Washington we have the second largest population of Bald Eagles in the United States and are keen to spot them on just about all of our trips.  We’re excited about all this season has to offer and can’t wait to share it with you.

Feel free to email or call us with any questions about your next booking with Western Prince Whale and Wildlife Tours.

Email: inquire@orcawhalewatch.com

Phone: 360-378-5315

Written by Elah
on Jul 10, 2020

San Juan Island Summer Whale Watching is Here!

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