Written by Ivan
on Apr 11, 2018

San Juan Island Whale Watching April 9th 2018

San Juan Island Whale Watching April 9th 2018

Our guests today joined us from as close as Seattle to as far away as Florida for a whale watching adventure in the San Juan Islands.

Our tour departed Friday Harbor in calm winds and under sunny skies. Always a great start to a trip in April. At the time we left the dock there were no confirmed reports of whales in the islands. This is often the case, especially this time of year. Rather than dampen my spirits, I look at it as a challenge and a new adventure to go searching for as much wildlife as can be found in the beautiful San Juan Islands.

We never run a set route on any of our whale watching & wildlife tours. Every day is different and we always try to pick the best places to go with the circumstances we are given. Today we decided to run east through the islands. We searched the open water between Orcas Island and Lopez Island and then started working our way south towards Lopez Sound, planning to circumnavigate Lopez Island.

After sliding through a tiny pass near Spencer Spit we were continuing south when suddenly we spotted 2 Orca Whales along the shoreline of Decatur Island! It is always such a pleasure to be the first to find whales! It turned out to be Bigg’s Killer Whales (mammal feeding), T49C, an adult male, and T65A3, a sub adult. This is a very interesting duo that has been traveling together for the last few days. T49C often travels on his own, or with another single whale. However, T65A3 is only about 11 and has always been seen with the rest of its family, the T65As. We spent a wonderful afternoon watching these two whales in the glassy green waters of Lopez Sound, one of the most beautiful scenic places in the San Juan Islands.

When it was finally time to depart we continued down around the bottom of the island, encountering about 30-40 Steller Sea Lions and a Bald Eagle along the way back to Friday Harbor

Check out this beautiful little video naturalist Traci took on our tour today.

What a beautiful day on the water!

Captain Ivan

Written by Ivan
on Apr 11, 2018

San Juan Island Whale Watching April 9th 2018

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