Great Orca Adventures

Wonderful Season

2006-10-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

It has been an amazing season onboard the Island Whaler and the Island Explorer II!! We had many wonderful experiences on the water this season. The Southern Resident Orcas had 3 new calves, one born this summer!!! We also saw lots of Transient Orcas this summer also with a new calf. You can read more about our season at www.islandadventurecruises.com click on our whale report.
The Island Whaler has been stored for the winter but the Island Explorer II will be running guaranteed whale watching tours through December 2006!! The Island Whaler and Island Explorer II will start the 2007 season the first weekend in March!! The Salish Sea is the first feeding stop for our California Gray whales on their migration north to the Bering Sea!!
Photos taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel Copyright 2006

The Orcas are Town Again!

2006-08-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after an interesting few weeks of Southern Resident Orcas out to sea and Transient Orcas, as well as Minke popping up, it is good to have Js, Ks and Ls back! There have been lots of Transients in lately, 15 in all! We got to see quite a bit of them and it seems there is even a new baby with one of the groups. Last night the Residents came back in and we got to see them near Victoria. It was an amazing show, and boy did we miss them! We had all kinds of multiple spyhops and breaches and cartwheels aboard the Island Explorer II. Today, we had lots of Ls offshore from San Juan. We got a good look at Wavewalker, who was playing the the waves. Guess he was aptly named. Mega, L Pod, seemed to like us today and gave us two really close passes where we could see him under water on our morning and evening trip. Nyssa, L Pod, it seems has been liking us lately too. He just can't leave us alone and keeps popping up around us. It always is so cool to see them up close and under water. Sure is good to have them back. Now let's just have them in for a good long time this time!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

West Side Orcas

2006-08-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ah, good ole L pod still hanging out on the west side. We actually didn't see any members of the L12s or L5s todays, so perhaps there was more of L pod further up. Js were certainly up near Henry Island, headed south, so I suppose the rest of L pod must have further North. The Island Explorer 2 went as far north as False Bay. We saw Jelly Roll, without her baby, and Onyx- two whales not closely related, but stranger things have happened before. They passes us, but didn't come up again and then deja vu happened a few minutes later as the same two whales both passed us in the same way. Our grand finale came as a female, with two young whales and a sprouter male behind started making all sorts of noise, talking on the hydrophone and splashing around and rolling around and gave us quite a wonderful show. I always love so much being able to hear them vocalizing. It sure does add to the excitement.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

K's and L's heading West

2006-08-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

The Island Explorer II's 10am trip found the orcas at Hein Bank heading west toward Victoria, BC. They were spread out foraging for Salmon!! We got some wonderful looks at Lea (K14) and her two offspring Lobo (K26) and 3 yr old Yoda (K36). Cappuccino (K21) gave us a great look as he cruised toward the boat!! We also had Mystery (L85) and Alexis (L12) right off the bow!! Our passengers got an awesome look at a harbor seal and her pup, that was piggybacking mom in the water.
Jami Nagel, Naturalist
Photos taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Dancing with Salmon

2006-07-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting few days. Ls have been gone, hope there's a super pod when they get back! Js have been making the circle and Ks have been doing the west side shuffle. There have been a couple minkes we've seen lately near Lopez and San Juan and on Sunday we saw a gray whale. It could have been a little one, traveling alone, or near its mother. We never quite saw the other gray but there were blows up ahead and they little gray whale we were watching was definitely traveling in that direction. K pod was very vocal the last two days. That's one thing I love about them. The new baby and Rainshadow were playing around near the boat for a while. And later, Sonata and little Opus were also playing, slowly rolling and popping there heads up. It almost looked like they were dancing. For a brief while Lea and little Yoda joined in too and at one point, one of the moms came up with a salmon and bounced it off her nose! Not sure if they were trying to teach the little ones to fish or what, but it was awesome to watch!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

J Pod and the Salmon Chase

2006-07-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

J Pod was headed down Rosario once again. It sure is nice to have them so consistent these days. It will also be nice to see some more super pods too! But at any rate, we always love J Pod. As it proved again today. We watched many members foraging today and saw Blackberry and Mako horsing around for a while. Then we saw Samish and her clan doing the same a little while later. Jami spied 2 salmon under the water nearby and a little while later, there was a lone whale headed our way. Soon, a lone salmon popped up near the surface that we could see sitting there for a second and all of a sudden, the orca was down and the salmon was running for its life! It was so funny, but it was really cool too! That was a first for me to actually see the salmon BEFORE it was caught. Poor thing. Ah well, such is the food chain.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

Js and Ls have been making the Great Circle

2006-07-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well, Faith has been traveling with J Pod amongst the ladies for some time now. Other L pod whales I have identified over the last week or so with Js have been: Tanya, Saanich and Ino (all who would normally travel together) and an interesting one in the mix was Surprise and her little one. Faith has been spending a lot of time with Polaris and Princess Angeline. Perhaps the TWO of them will have little ones next year!! I do predict at least one of them will have a baby next year. I would bet money on it! We also saw an interesting spectacle near Stuart one evening. Faith, Polaris and a group of unidentified whales were traveling VERY slowly in a circle, rolling around. Mating perhaps? I spied a baby in the midst of it all after watching for a while. It didn't seem like a tiny new baby to me, but you never know what the whales are up to. And now, all three pods are in, I am anxious to see some new babies!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

J-pod with parts of L-pod

2006-06-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day on the water. J-pod and members of L-pod where bucking the ebbing tide at Henry Island. They hugged the shoreline for sometime then headed out into Haro Strait. L-57, Faith has been seen traveling with J-pod for the last few days. We got some great looks at him and J1, Ruffles who were seen together at times today. There was alot of spyhopping today as the traveled very slowly against the tide. We also had saw several bald eagles, harbor seals and many harbor porpoise!!
Jami Nagel, Naturalist
Photos taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Bellingham Channel J Pod, partial?

2006-06-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Looked like J pod was coming down Bellingham Channel today, ah we love these close days! We get so much time with the whales. There was a sighting of part of J pod up near Vancouver too today. Not quite sure what happened there, but we saw lots of whales, never saw Blackberry, so maybe they really were split up. That would be the second time this season, very odd. I wonder if Granny and Spieden had a tiff....We got really good looks at Samish and her clan. Lots of whales were breaching all around. Suttles attempted to breach, but it didn't come out just right. So Riptide and Hyshqa showed her how it was done. Suttles tried again after that, but still, her attempt wasn't the best. I've seen her breach before, so maybe she just needs a little more practice til she's a pro.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.
Photo by Naturalist Jami Nagel

J Pod must love the salmon on Rosario

2006-06-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Js were in Rosario, well, just north of it today. We didn't have to go all the way to Vancouver today, but we were just barely below the Canadian border. I recall asking our lat and long, position, from Hamid and he told me we were at 48 degrees, 58.2 N latitude, and the border is at the 49th parallel. It even stopped raining for us too! Js were headed south, not sure what happend to Ks and Ls again, they should be sticking around any day now. We saw lots of breaches today, from all ages, we even saw J41 breach, compared to the others, she is so tiny! It was so cute! Polaris and Tahlequah gave us some good looks too and along the way, they must have ran into some salmon because they sure chased it around for a long time and even chased it out of the water. They must have gotten their lunch, because they moved on after that. Perhaps they are moving to the west side of San Juan where they may meet up with some others tomorrow??
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.
Photos by Naturalist Jami Nagel

J-pod at Lummi Island

2006-06-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Another amazing day with J-pod today!! When we got on seen we got an amazing look at J1 Ruffles and J2 Granny chasing salmon just under the surface of the water!!! We also had great looks at Blackberry, Shachi and J41, Polaris and Speiden. They were all definately foraging today but the babies practiced their breaching while fishing!! We got another amazing look at Ruffles and Granny foraging at the end of the day when Granny leaped out of the water in pursuit of a salmon!! The weather and the whales were amazing today.
Naturalist, Jami Nagel
Photo taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Js possibly on their way to meet Ks and Ls

2006-06-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

Js went through active pass around 1 today and headed towards Point Roberts and went north towards the river. Looked like Blackberry was traveling with Suttles and was perhaps teaching her a thing or two about fish. Soon after, they b-lined it right to Shachi who was also feeding and chased a breaching salmon out of the water! That was so cool. Wonder if the little one was able to get anything herself. Perhaps Js were headed up to see Ks and Ls? They were spotted up in Johnstone Strait coming towards the San Juans. We also heard on the way home around 4-5pm that Ls were headed in and were just west of Race Rocks. Guess they must be split up since Ks and Ls were thought to be very far from there. Interesting to see what tomorrow brings!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

Js still haning out in Rosario

2006-06-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

We got to see active Js again today. Good looks at Blackberry again today, I know it's because I adopted him now. :) Blossom, Shachi and J41 were traveling together. Blossom breached 9 times in a row! One of which was right off the bow. Polaris surprised us and popped us right next to the boat, when under us and we could hear her echolocating and she also squealed a couple times. It was really loud and clear and was so neat. There were many other whales we couldn't tell who was who breaching like crazy too. They started to slow down their direction towards the late afternoon so maybe they won't continue south afterall and may go down the otherside of the islands. We'll find out tomorrow!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.
Photos taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Ruffles and Granny were active!

2006-06-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

June 10
J pod was in Rosario once again and they were really active. We saw all kinds of activity, including much from Ruffles and Granny. Ruffles slapped him huge paddle a few times and cartwheeled twice right off the bow!! Then right after Granny breached close by!! She looks so good, nice and healthy. It is so refreshing to see. J41 looks good too. We got a nice look at her and Shachi. J Pod must be eating well because they are sticking around and have been really active a lot lately. Hopefully that's a good sign that there's lots of salmon and Ls and Ks will come in soon!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.
photos taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Awesome Js today!

2006-06-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

J pod was in Rosario for the second day in a row and gave us the best show of the season so far!! Even a couple on today have been out quite a few times before said it's always a great show, but they sure love J pod! We do too! It was playtime in Bellingham channel today, our naturalist Penny saw the whales off Lummi this morning and called us so out we went. Lots of breaching and talking by all the whales. We even got Oreo to come close by the stern and Cookie and Doublestuff were close by, chasing each other. They came near the bow, turned and went down the length of the boat and out off the stern, all the while we watched them doing this under water! Those are my absolute favorite moments when we can catch a glimpse of just what it is they do under the water! Lots of seals and Blad Eagles again too, 6 today.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.
Photos taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Elusive Js were found in Rosario

2006-06-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

We saw lots of the San Juans today! We made it to the west side of San Juan and on the Smith island where we saw lots of harbor seal and 11 eagles! All in all we ended up seeing 16 eagles today! J Pod finally showed up headed south right outside Anacortes, off Washington Park. It was play time for the little ones. All the littles ones it seemed were quite active, breaching and cartwheeling and such all grouped together. It was so cute! Looked like there were headed west when we left them this afternoon.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.
Photo taken by Naturalist Jami Nagel

Great Show on the West Side!

2006-06-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

Onboard the Island Whaler today, we got a great show from J-Pod. The Island Explorer II went out and found the Orcas for us so we knew where they were leaving the dock. This enabled us to take a trip a very scenic through the middle of the San Juan Islands, one of my favorite places on Earth, on our way to the West side of San Juan Island! J-Pod must have known when we arrived on scene with them, because we saw several breaches fairly close to the boat right when we got there. Then they swam in front of us, right off our bow, as they cruised down the shoreline foraging for food! We were able to identify Spieden as she went past because she wheezes when she inhales (she's almost 90 years old!). We also paid a visit to Ruffles who was a little farther offshore, and got some really good looks of him. His dorsal fin, which is over six feet tall, looks huge from the Island Whaler! He is a very impressive Orca and one of our favorite! On our way back to the dock we stopped by Burrows Lighthouse to check out a large pod of Harbor Porpoises and also found 50+ Harbor Seal in the water below a large flock of seagulls. These Harbor Seals were feeding on several small balls of bait fish. Some even came up with fish in their mouths a few feet away from the Whaler, only to have the fish stolen by a pair of squabbling Seagulls! Pretty Amazing. Even as we were pulling back into the Marina we saw a River Otter hanging out on one of the docks, and just goes to show that the Show isn't over till we pull back on the dock! All in all a great day to be on the water!
Jonathan Robinson, Naturalist

Vancouver was in sight

2006-06-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

We went all the way to Vancouver today. We were one of only two US boats that made it out to see orcas today. J Pod went through Active Pass this morning and headed towards the Frasier River. We went for it and got them pretty close to being off the chart. We were looking right at Vancouver, we had BC ferries passing by and the coal docks were right next to us. It was worth it as always too. We got really good looks at Blackberry , Blossom and Shachi. Blackberry has seemed to like us lately. Yesterday was another good day with Blackberry when we watched J Pod coming south down Rosario. They were spread out again, but Shachi, the baby and Blackberry stayed close by. Ruffles even spyhopped twice! Blackberry must have heard me say that I am going to adopt him, so now he's hanging around! Stellers are also still around. We saw 5 on Peapod Rocks today lazing around. One yesterday too swimming south of Cypress. Plus harbor porpoise all over the place.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

Partial Js, Ls and Ks Now Too!

2006-05-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

J Pod was very spread out today, in fact, some were MIA. Ruffles was around, though we never got a good look at him. Shachi and her baby, J41 kept of entertained today. We also caught glimpses of Blackberry, Tsuchi and Mako and of course the ring leader, mommy Blossom. It's highly unusual for Js to be split of. It must have had something to do with L pod coming in from the ocean today, and were at Race Rocks while we watched J pod on the west side of San Juan Island. To top it all off, K pod was up north near Twassen this morning. Perhaps there was some strange activity today because they could smell a greeting ceremony coming on??? I hope not too soon because I don't work tomorrow! First sightings of K pod since March. On our evening trip today we found a young Minke in the Strait of Juan de Fuca that was very friendly. It stayed with the boat for at least 20 minutes and gave us a very close looks,- we could see down its blow holes! Plus, you could not have asked for a nicer day to be on the water, it was finally sunny and warm.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

J Pod inside the islands!

2006-05-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

J Pod traveling north of San Juan Channel this morning. Captain Hamid took us through the middle of the islands and spotted a lot of Bald Eagles and their nests along the way. All that driving sure has given him that eagle eye. We saw 11 Bald Eagles in total today. We played with some Dall's Porpoises on the way home from the whales. They were in Haro Strait and the sun and water conditions were just right that we could see the porpoises under water, including a hybrid Dall's/Harbor porpoise. We watched J Pod as they emerged from San Juan Channel in the middle of the islands, near Spieden island. They turned and headed south down the island. We got really good looks at Blackberry, as he traveled alone and Samish and her clan traveling tightly together and breaching for us occasionally. Another wonderful calm day on the water!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

Foraging J Pod

2006-05-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

J Pod was on the West Side again, very spread out diving deep and feeding. We got lucky today though and saw a few breaching whales. One must have been Oreo. We might have possibly had some Ls in the mix, but they were so spread out, it was hard to be sure. It was a very low tide today, so there was lots to see at the south end of Lopez as well. Eleven bald eagles today, lots of seals and porpoises and even some orange and purple sea stars. Once again the rain stopped just in time for our trip too.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist
photo taken by naturalist Jami Nagel

Cartwheeling Porpoises

2006-05-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

We had orcas in our backyard today! J Pod was headed south down Rosario and the Island Whaler was the first boat of the day to spot Js. The Island Explorer II watched Js from the Southern end of Cypress Island, all the way to Deception Pass. They wouldn't let us leave! We watched Mike and his siblings, Keet and Alki traveling south for along time. Then we moved on to Spieden, with a little one, chasing fish, so we watched some splashing around and some porpoising out of them. Before we even got to the whales, we watched some Harbor Porpoises near Burrows Island and we saw one cartwheel! That was the most amazing part of my day- to see the very shy harbor porpoises being frisky!!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist.

J Pod on the West Side

2006-05-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

May 26, 2006.
Awesome start to Memorial Weekend. We saw J Pod on the West Side of San Juan Island, headed north. The sun decided to show its face just in time too. We watched Ruffles and all his glory for a long time, then spied some Dall's porpoises frolicking around close by. Some younger ones, including Mike, must have noticed the huge freighter passing by because they crossed over to it and played in its wake. It's always so fun to watch Js playing around. And as a nice treat on the way home, we got good looks at Spieden island and saw a lot of the deer and sheep on it, as well as a bald eagle soaring around.
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist
photo taken by naturalist Jami Nagel

Amazing day with J's and L's

2006-05-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

What an unbelievable day with J-pod and part of L-pod. The Island Explorer II joined the whales between Portland and Saltspring Island heading toward Swanson Channel in the Canadian Gulf Islands. As we came on scene the whales they were lined up in their pods facing each other about 50 yards apart (similar to a greeting ceremony). Both groups took a deep dive and were down for around 3-5 mins. L-pod headed toward Swanson Channel and J-pod circled around the same area before continuing behind L-pod about 300 yards. L-pod grouped up and appeared to be sleeping. They surfaced in rhythem together several time then all dove deep for a long dive. This went on for about 30-45 mins. Then one of the whales spyhopped, shortly after 4 whales erupted in breaches. It was an amazing sight!!! We continued to watch L-pod as they moved down Swanson Channel toward Haro Strait. J-pod headed up Swanson Channel toward Active Pass. We had a mother and calf together roll over with bellies up slapping their flukes on the surface of the water!! Today was an awesome experience for our passanger and I'm sure one they won't ever forget!!
Jami Nagel, Naturalist

Great Orca Adventures

2006-05-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

May23, 2006.
It was a foggy day today, but that didn't stop L Pod from popping up in their favorite location- the west side of San Juan Island. The Island Explorer II and the Island Whaler had the chance to watch the part of L Pod off Eagle Point. Most of the whales were spread out, diving deep, in search of fish. But there was one baby that kept breaching for us in the middle of a group of about 4 whales. The baby must have breached 10 times in a row. It's always so cute to watch them learn. It often just looks like a bellyflop or a back bend, but it's cute!
Ellen Newberry, Naturalist

Whales on the West Side

2006-05-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

What a Great day on the water. The Island Explorer II had quite an adventure today with LOTS of wildlife in action! We watched J-pod off of Eagle Point on San Juan Island. They were moving west with lots of spyhopping, tail-lobbing and a few breaches!! We got great looks at J-1 Ruffles as he foraged about 1/2 mile offshore from the rest of the group. On our way back to the dock we took a look at Burrows Island Lighthouse and found ourselves surrounded by harbor porpoise, harbor seals and many seabirds all feeding. We got a awesome look as a harbor seal surfaced next to the boat with an octopus!!!! We watched as he enjoyed his dinner.
Jami Nagel, Naturalist

Gray Whale!!!

2006-05-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

The Island Explore II headed south in Saratoga Passage in search of Gray Whales. We found them just off Camano Head!! T49, Patch and T22 were resting just shore! We got great looks at both whales!! T49, Patch has been seen every spring in Saratoga Passage for the last 20 years!!
Jami Nagel, Naturalist

J-pod near Anacortes today!!

2006-05-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

We had another amazing day with J-pod near Anacortes on the Island Explorer II and the Island Whaler. The Island Whaler was the first boat to find the orcas on their 9am trip at Lummi Rocks. They had an amazing experience when on of the females caught a fish and brought it over to her calf!!!
The Island Explorer II left the dock at 11am and caught up the J-pod in Rosario Strait near Cypress Island and was with them as they went past Anacortes and around the south end of Lopez. We got some great looks at J26, Mike one of our sprouters (maturing male in his teens) and his mother J16, Slick. J26 has sure gotten big since last summer!!
We also had a bald eagle infront of the boat swooping down several time in an attempt to snag a fish, at one point we thought he might go for a swim!
After leaving the whales we headed for a wonder full view of Deception Pass but just before we got there we shut our engines down and drifted with about 50 harbor porpoise. They were foraging all around us!!
Jami Nagel, Naturalist

Sun, Blue Skies and J-pod

2006-05-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day in the San Juans! The Island Explorer II and the Island Whaler spent the day with J-pod along the west side of San Juan Island. We watched a member of J-pod playing with a harbor porpoise!! This is only the second time J-pod has been seen doing this, last summer was the first. L-pod has been seen doing this on several occasions. We also got a Great look at J27 Blackberry kelping. He had bull kelp draped around his dorsal fin.
Jami, Naturalist

Sun and Orcas

2006-05-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

The Island Explorer II and the Island Whaler enjoyed watching J-pod in Rosario Strait just off Burrows Island near Anacortes!! The weather was exceptional and so were the whales. J-pod was actively feeding but also taking time out from the hunt to play with lots of breaching and lobtailing. We watched J27, Blackberry in hot pursuit of a fish with his dorsal fin slicing a foot above the water. Orcas can reach speed of 30 mph!! We also got several great looks at J1, Ruffles (the oldest male in the Southern Residents) and J30, Riptide.
Jami Nagel, Naturalist

J-Pod!!!

2006-05-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today was an amazing day with lots of wildlife on the Salish Sea. We had many bald eagles and lots of seabirds (pigeon guillemots, rhinocerus auklets, artic loons, cormorants, common murres). There were 8 Stellar Sealions sunning themselves near Sucia and as we slowly passed by you could here their growls at one another. We found J-pod SE of Point Roberts. We got to see J30, Riptide who has certainly grown this winter. We watch J19, Shachi and little J41 while he/she practiced breaching and spyhopping over and over again!! J1, Ruffles was being fairly active with lots of tail lobbing in the distance as he foraged.

Wow, What a Trip!!

2006-04-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today on the Island Explorer II we had soooo much wildlife!!! We started the trip with the peregrine falcon on Burrows, followed by lots of harbor seals on Colville. Then we went in between Lopez and Castle Rock, what a low tide!! We had purple seastars, harlequin ducks, turkey vultures, more seals and a mated pair of bald eagles (one of them swooping down for a little lunch on the shore!!) We then set off for Salmon Bank where we found 2 Minke whales and about 30 Dall's porpoise not to mention lots of birds feeding in the tide rips (Scoters, rhino aucklets, pigeon guillemots, brants geese and common murres). Later in the day we saw 2 stellar sealions off whale rocks and then another fishing along Lopez Island. On our trip back we encountered about 40 harbor porpoises feeding off Allan Island. What a trip!!!
Jami Nagel, Naturalist

April Triple

2006-04-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today was an amazing day on the Salish Sea - ANYTHING is possible in April!! The Island Explorer II departed Anacortes and headed through Deception Pass in search of Gray Whales. We had tons of sunshine, flat calm water, and beautiful views of Mt. Baker! We found 2 Gray Whales, Patch and his buddy #314, and we were surrounded by the sound of Loons calling each other - it was truly magical! After spending some time with the Grays, Captain Shane got the call that Orcas were in the straits - so off we went to find the Orcas. And....we found them! Our guests were able to spend some time with the Orcas too and then, on the way home, encountered a Minke Whale! Three species in one day - very cool! Our guests also got to see California Sea Loins, Porpoises, Seals, River Otters, and the beautiful San Juan Islands! Sam

Island Adventures

2006-04-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Spyhopping Grays!!! Beautiful day in Saratoga passage, sun and the mountains were out! We spent some time with 2 gray whales off the south end of Hat Island near Everett. They were slowly moving west stopping at Hat Island and started spyhopping, we lost track at 20 spyhops!! Heading back north we found 2 more gray whales at East Point making a total of 4 grays!! An amazing day!!!!

Winter Whale Watching

2006-03-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

In December of 2005 Great Orca Adventures merged with Island Adventures in Anacortes to create the most dynamic whale watching company in Washington State. The vessel Mercury was given a good scrub, a new coat of bottom paint, and a new name. We are now calling her the Island Whaler. We are now able to run the fastest certified whale watch boat out of the most conveniently located marina in the San Juan Islands. That means that the great trips you've come to expect from Great Orca Adventures just got better!

Spring whale watching is in full swing right now. There have been Gray whales sighted in Guemes Channel near Anacortes and near Blakely Island. At least five Grays are known to be in the Puget Sound. Transient (mammal eating) Orcas were seen yesterday by Victoria. And our Resident Orcas are still here. We were watching K-Pod, and part of L-Pod from the decks of the Island Explorer II on our Seattle whale watching trip last Sunday.

We have Seattle whale watch trips tomorrow (Saturday), Sunday, and Tuesday aboard the Island Explorer II. The Island Whaler will be heading out on a special bird watching trip on Saturday, and then on a whale watch trip on Monday, from Anacortes.

The weather looks great and we are excited about all these whales in the area! More reports coming soon.

2005-09-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Sept. 25: Today we did a special 5-hour charter out of Anacortes with Island Adventures - this allowed us LOTS of quality time with the whales, both orcas and the gray! We toured through the middle of the islands and through Cattle Pass to find L pod (L12's) spread out at the south end of San Juan Island, milling, foraging, and cavorting. We stayed with one group of particularly playful calves and their moms for a good while, losing track of how many times the little ones breached! Many times they came completely out of the water, tails and all - quite the little acrobats! Topping it all off was Mt. Baker in the background, making for some great photo ops - (nice placement, Capt. Mark!) Like Capt. Shane says: whale-watch driving is an art form - and like Capt. Mark says: whale-watching is all about patience. And when this all comes together, you get a perfect day out on the water! On our way back, we stopped at Whale Rocks to admire the big ol' Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks and paid a visit to Steady Freddie the gray whale at Lopez Pass - he's still there and looking fat and happy. We're wondering when he will decide to take off to join his buddies down in Baja...? We are SO enjoying these beautiful fall sunny days on the calm waters with J,K, and L pods (and Freddie) - but alas, this is our last week of trips for the season...last chance to get out there! Call 360-734-3431 to check on availability on trips. (photo courtesy of passenger "CyboRob"!)

2005-09-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Nice photo of Racer (L72) passing us closely on a trip last week taken by passenger Teus Vink from the Netherlands! We had a great time watching a group of L-pod whales playing near our boat that day - a couple of whales passed so close to the boat that you could just about see down their blowholes in the photos!

2005-09-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sept. 18: Today we were one of only a few boats that got to see the whales - after hanging out west of San Juan Island for most of the past couple weeks, they decided to go north through Active Pass and by the time we got to them, were just about at the mouth of the Fraser River! The pods were spread out for miles up and down the Strait of Georgia. We got into the area with some of the L pod whales, including Mega, Hugo, and their families. When we got to the river delta area where it gets real shallow, the whales started swimming back and forth in all directions, milling, lunging, chasing - looked like they were going after salmon in a big way! We saw quite a few breaches - most by the littler whales (practice makes perfect!) - and spyhops, tail lobs, porpoising, and swimming upside down. We got yet another special pass close to our bow by Splash and Aurora - I figure they must know our boat and Captain Mark (who named Aurora) and enjoy saying hi to us on occasion! A lovely day in Canadian waters. We weren't quite sure where J and K pods were as we left - they had all gone through Active Pass a few hours earlier by reports from other whale watch boats, but we didn't see them out in the strait - could have been farther north...or south...?? It's big water out there! On our way back we paused to gawk at a big ol' Steller sea lion (near Cherry Pt. area) who was out on his own - we noticed he had a big brand on his back - interesting - apparently he's part of a research study on toxin levels in our marine ecosystem. When we returned, we heard that most boats from the San Juan Island area hadn't been able to see the orcas today - too far to go - but that doesn't stop the "Strange Torpedo", one of the fastest boats in the fleet (the Mercury)!!!

2005-09-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

We've had some great shots sent to us by some of our passengers. The whales have been giving such great shows. Send us your pictures today!

2005-09-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sept. 17: September trips continue to be some of the very best of the year - this one also ranks at the top part of the list! We had a few returning passengers who hadn't seen the orcas the first time around, and they were rewarded with the presence of all three pods on the west side of San Juan Island. Within the first 15 minutes of our arrival, we were approached by a group of L pod whales who passed us closely, rolling around and chasing each other - one breached about 50' off our boat! Then we spotted J pod and another L pod group in close to the shoreline, all tightly grouped up together in two big whale masses - very cool sight! This is known as "resting mode" and it offers a special opportunity to see what is essentially a family portrait of each pod. They continued on southward slowly for a while, then turned back north as we were leaving - K pod was off in the distance - we could see whales cavorting to the south heading our way - as they passed we saw some tail slapping, cartwheels, and a few spyhops. Another beautiful afternoon on the water with our southern resident community of orca whales! A nice little bonus as we were leaving the "vicinity of whales" was an encounter with some Dall's porpoises. These little black and white porpoises are one of the fastest of the marine mammals - they often like to play with traveling boats, speeding back and forth across the bow. Today they decided to engage the Mercury in a little play - fun! This was the first time in my 3 years on this boat that I've seen them play with us - very exciting! Cool stuff is around every corner out here in the islands for sure!

2005-09-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Sept. 14: The trip today rated a #10 on the whale happy experience scale for this naturalist, Cappy Mark, and our guests! We headed out again to the west side of San Juan Island where we heard the three pods had been hanging out earlier in the day and were able to get in the area where L pod was most actively foraging, and very spread out about as far as the eye could see. Whales were everywhere, milling, changing directions, chasing quickly - looked like they were in the middle of a bunch of salmon and enjoying a good feed! At one point we were watching one of the adult L pod males, Mega (L41), zipping around back and forth when all of a sudden he comes up high out of the water with a big ol' salmon in his mouth! We were just drifting most of the time with our hydrophone in the water - got to hear some wonderful vocalizations - squeals, squeaks, whinnies - people could hardly believe it was really the whales talking! Towards the end a group of about 10 orcas started heading towards us - first, a mom and baby coming right towards our stern! Cappy Mark was up on the back deck watching as Splash and Aurora surfaced almost right at his feet to say hi! Aurora is the little orca whom Cappy Mark had the honor of naming last year through the Whale Museum - so that was quite special and exciting! Then four more whales passed us closely, so close we could watch them swimming underwater - one actually stopped for a bit at our stern, remaining underwater - Mark thought perhaps she was looking for salmon that might be hiding under our boat! A couple of our guests got some nice close-up photos of the whales - so close all you could see was the eyepatch and blowhole - they're not gonna believe that when they show'em back home in the Netherlands! It was indeed a lucky day for us - not every day that we get to see the whales that up close and personal. Thanks L pod and Cappy Mark!!

Bon Voyage

2005-09-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Good Reviews

2005-09-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

My husband & I sailed with Great Orca Adventures last month. It was such a thrilling and moving experience. To see these glorious Orcas in their habitat, not to mention sea lions, eagles and even a grey whale - it doesn't get any better! I have recommended GOA to everyone I know & can't wait to come back for another adventure.
(Happy Customer), NY

2005-09-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sept. 13: How many gorgeous sunny afternoons in a row can we have in September? Yes, we had another one today, and flat calm waters to boot. J and K pods were mixing it up in about the same area, near Hein Bank and, again, quite spread out. There were a couple of good size groups that we watched - mixed groups of males, females, youngsters rolling around each other, chasing, spyhopping, doing cartwheels, breaches, tail lobs - a very active and frisky bunch of whales today! A humpback whale was again reported in the area, but we didn't find that one - did see Steady Freddie the gray whale on our way home and the Steller sea lions on our way out. At the end of the day, L pod was reported on their way back in towards San Juan Island, and J and K pods were apparently on their way west to meet up with them. Could be another superpod tomorrow...???

Another Beautiful Day

2005-09-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

We saw Orcas, Minke whales, and even a Humpback. September has been amazing

2005-09-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Sept. 12: First time of the year - FOUR whale species in one day!! On another sunny, glorious, perfectly calm day, we went out to the west side of San Juan Island where J and K pods were spread out for miles across Haro and San Juan Straits - a humpback whale was also swimming in the area, as well as two minke whales - a multi-tonned cetacean kind of day! We watched frolicking of orca calves, tail lobbing, some cartwheels, a spyhop or two - then visited with Steady Freddie the gray whale on the way back. Also the mighty impressive Steller sea lion bulls at Whale Rocks! In the avian area, we've been seeing bald eagles, auklets, phalaropes, great blue herons, kingfishers, and large rafts of common murres and surf scoters, to name a few. These September days just keep getting better and better!

The Biography of Capt. Mark

2005-09-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

(parody)

As a child the Captain, then known as the mullet laden 'Marky', fell in love with whales.

Marky grew a moustache and kept the mullet. He spent his days in the Puget Sound playing with his Orca friends.Today he is the more refined and debonair Captain Mark. He can be seen daily loading up the Mercury.

2005-09-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Sept. 10: Another very awesome (topless) day with whales, sunshine, and calm waters - AND another 3-whale species day! Today we were with L pod who were spread out for miles in the Hein Bank/Strait of Juan de Fuca area. Orcas were everywhere as far as the eye could see - we had some nice passes by some small groups including some moms and frolicking babies. AND there was some of the best vocalizations on the hydrophone that we've heard this year - they were quite talkative today! J's and K's were heading north towards Active Pass at the same time. On our way back towards Lopez Island we spotted a minke whale "grazing" in amongst the gulls and seabirds. Minkes are the smallest of the baleen whales and often hard to spot unless the water is calm - they're pretty shy - and have small dorsal fins and cruise along with a low profile on the water. They are relatively common in these waters, however. Freddie/Patch the gray whale is still hanging out at Lopez Pass, and we stopped to say hi to him also on our way home - he obliged us with some nice close looks. We also got some good looks at a bunch of Steller sea lion males hauled out on Whale Rocks near the harbor seals. Hard to imagine those transient (mammal-eating) orcas taking one of these guys on for a meal! Trips are getting a little bit cooler this month but OH SO beautiful - bundle up and come on out - it's always exciting to see what each new day will bring in September!

2005-09-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

A new boat similar to the Mercury has just been built and is sailing out to Hawaii. It's name is the Hula Kei

2005-09-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

2005-09-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Sept. 8: AWEsome day on the water with (literally) TONS of whales!! Went out to Hein Bank area to catch up with J, K, and L pods, who were spread out for miles across the strait in small groups. There, in the same area, we were treated to a special surprise of two humpback (!) whales cruising together in the midst of the orcas - imagine that! We'd be gaping at the big blows and graceful tails of the humpbacks when all of a sudden, there behind us and on all sides would be orca whales, swimming this way and that. A great melange of cetaceans everywhere we looked! (I wonder if the humpbacks know the difference between resident and transient orcas...) Saw all kinds of activity with the orcas - milling, spyhops, cartwheels, rolling, upside down, and even some unusual resting type behavior by J pod. Also a buddy group of large males of L pod hanging together passed close by us - impressive! We could have stayed out there for hours more, there was so much to see - AND the weather was heavenly to boot! On our way home, we rounded out the trip with Steady Freddie/Patch the gray whale at Lopez Pass again. Once again, a 3-whale-species day! And most certainly in the Top Ten of our trips this year - did I mention September rocks?!?

2005-09-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Sept.6 a.m.: Our lucky group of State Park managers from all across the country picked a most gorgeous Sept. morning for a trip - sun was out, top was off, water was calm, AND the superpod was here!! Bingo! We cruised through the middle of the islands to Cattle Pass, rounded the corner to the north to see lots of boats - gill-netters, purse seiners (commercial fishing), as well as a lot of small recreational fishing boats - not to mention the whale watch boats! Lots of boats usually means lots of salmon and that also makes the orcas happy - J, K, and L pods were working the west side of San Juan Island along with the boats, not seeming to pay much attention at all to the throng of buzzing boats. We found a spot to shut down and drift to observe the goings-on - at first it looked like most of our group of whales was fishing - milling about, changing direction, tail lobbing, lunging, porpoising. Some were real close in to shore, others were working a little farther out, in amongst the boats. A few small groups came out to our area and we watched some rolling around, upside down swimming, more like mating behavior. A mom and baby decided to give us a nice close pass so we could watch them swimming underwater! We thought it might be Aurora, the L pod baby that Cappy Mark got to name last year!? After a while, we were surrounded by whales in all directions. Got to see a few breaches and a cartwheel close to the boat! Hard to pull ourselves away from such an amazing scene, but the group had to be back in time for a meeting (!) - we stopped to gawk at the huge Steller sea lion bulls in Cattle Pass area on our way back - there's about 10 of them hanging out in that area now, and their immense size dwarfs the "petite" harbor seals that haul out next to them. They are also quite comic to watch - lolling about at the surface of the water today, grunting and snorting, arguing with each other occasionally - good to see them again! Yes, folks, again I say, September rocks - Superpod season!

2005-09-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

What a day for a Whale Watch.

The group just left to see the whales. The pods are rumored to be on the South of San Juan Island.

2005-09-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

There go the rangers. We had a boat full of National Park people. The weather looks great. Penny will type up the report soon!

September 3:

2005-09-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

We left the dock under partly sunny skies knowing the whales were in reach. With the sun a little lower in the sky the colors were vibrant and with a bit of chop it felt like we were participants in a Discovery Channel special. Captain Mark took us north through Hales Passage over the top of Orcas and down the south side of Waldron Island. We sighted our first whales just west of Henry Island on the edge of Haro Strait. The currents on the west side of San Juan were strong and the whales seemed to love the action. They were speed swimming, leaping out of the water in an arc, great walls of water flying to either side of them. Members of J and L pod and possibly K-pod were headed south fast. In fact they were on such a mission that it was difficult to make positive identification of which pods were together. The sight of two or three orcas synchronized speed swimming is absolutely breathtaking. Love that display of power and grace. We had to reposition several times as the whales quickly passed us by. We were delighted to get one close encounter with a group of whales. Two even decided to pass right beneath the boat. Our trip back to Bellingham was no less exciting. Captain Mark chose to circumnavigate the islands which meant a surprise sighting of a Tufted Puffin flying right across our bow on the south end of Lopez and the opportunity to see Fred our favorite Gray whale on the east side of Lopez. Viti Rocks a small wildlife refuge south west of the southern tip of Lummi Island was teaming with a variety of wildlife. An adult bald eagle at the pinnacle of a small reef, Harbor porpoise on the east side, a very cute baby harbor seal in the foreground and lots of Double Crested Cormorants settling in for the night's rest along with our resident Glaucous Winged Gulls. Super wildlife trip. A stunning time of the year to be exploring the beauty and magic of the islands.

2005-09-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Sept. 2 a.m.: Whales went missing the last couple of days, but today they are back! What looked like it might be a rainy day turned into a gorgeous sunny one by the time we got out into the islands. We cut through the middle of the islands and up to the north by Henry Island to catch the most northerly group of J, K, and L pods - saw J pod superstars Ruffles and Granny, and at least one K female (Georgia) and an L pod male, Faith - sooo.....they were all "mixing it up." There was some porpoising action and a breach or two nearby, milling, chasing, tail lobs - looked like they were heading to Turn Point and possibly points north - Fraser River perhaps? We'll know better tomorrow....Lots and lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks on our way home. Beautiful day it turned out to be, and hard to come back home! We LOVE September!!

2005-09-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

The Mercury can brave any type of water. The whales don't know the difference because its always wet down there. A group of twenty are headed to the South side of San Juan to see the orcas right now.

2005-08-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

Aug. 30 p.m.: It's beginning to feel a little like fall around here these last few days! Rain and cooler temps had us putting the top back on the boat for today's trip, but the long ride out was SOOO worth it - seas were flat calm out in Haro Strait, making for most excellent whale watching, AND we had all three pods mixing it up out there. Whales were everywhere, milling about - saw spyhops, tail lobs, porpoising, breaches (a couple right near the boat!) and lots of rolling and upside down swimming too. We're definitely getting into superpod social time of the year again! AND the weather will get better again - September often has some of the most beautiful days out there. We did get to stop in and say hi to our buddy gray whale on the way home too, who gave us a couple of nice close looks. Patch/Freddie definitely deserves a big bonus at the end of this season! We're getting into my favorite time of year here on the water, folks - remember to layer up when you come out!

2005-08-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

Aug. 29 p.m.: Sun...rain...sun....rain....we had a little of it all today - went "topless" and skirted most of the rain squalls, but got caught in a few. Our timing was pretty good as we went through Cattle Pass and caught a WHOLE BUNCH of whales porpoising our way towards Salmon Bank. They (J, K, and L pods) were in high speed mode, galloping towards us, and then put on the brakes as they got closer. For a while there, they were all around us, on all sides of the boat - cool! We saw a few breaches, tail lobs, and a neat cartwheel (or flip) right near the boat. Also a very tiny calf - looked like a newborn! - next to a mom who was too far off to ID. Does that bring the new calf total to 8??? WOW! The whales headed northwards near San Juan Island, right towards a number of commercial fishing boats out for an opener. We turned and sped away from the rain to Lopez Island and our friend Patch/Freddie the gray whale, whom we visited with for a bit. Lovely trip and great human crowd today on the boat I might add! P.S. Report of a humpback (!) whale in Rosario Strait earlier this a.m.

2005-08-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Bon Voyage

EMAIL US YOUR PICTURES THE WHALES HAVE BEEN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our email address is on the site.

2005-08-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Long rumored to have been raised in the L-Pod of orcas, Penny the Naturalist, lifts the roof of the boat above her head. With super human strength and the mind of an Orca, Penny makes the perfect whale watching guide.

2005-08-28T19:23:00.001-07:00

Aug. 28 p.m.: Our first rainy trip in a LONG time - whales were spread out from the south to the north end of San Juan Island - we saw some of the L's (plus maybe a few others...?), namely Mega, swimming by himself but pretty close, and Skana, who was socializing with a couple other unidentified whales. GOt to see a couple of breaches. J's, K's, and the rest of L's were apparently north of us. Freddie/Patch the gray whale on the way home.

2005-08-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Aug. 27: Superpod between Pt. Roberts and East Pt. in a.m. - lots of activity - and still superpod in p.m. near Battleship Island, west side San Juan Island. More details to come...

2005-08-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

Aug. 26 a.m.: Resident whales are back - a superpod off Victoria heading east towards San Juan Island!! more later....

2005-08-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Possibly the best day of the season. Beautiful weather, and a heck of a lot of orcas in the San Juans. September is mating season, so the pods are hanging out together.

2005-08-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

25/08/2005
Aug. 25 a.m.: Great tour around and through the islands with a group of neuroscientists, but no orca whales this a.m. All, including the transients, were too far west to reach. We did spend some time with Patch/Freddie the gray whale at Lopez Pass, doing his gray whale thing - wonder how long he'll stay? P.M.: Headed west through the middle of the islands in hopes of catching some whales rumored to be swimming towards San Juan Island. Some people were saying "residents", others "transients"??? Turned out to be what looked like the same transient group we had been looking at yesterday - one of the males had a bent over fin and was traveling with two pointy-finned females. They were again traveling in a tight group of 3-6 and being rather elusive, but we got some nice looks at them in the evening sun. Also some nice close-ups of Patch/Freddie on our way home!

Enjoying the sun

2005-08-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Our afternoon trip getting ready to roll.

Caution: Brainiacs Aboard

2005-08-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today we had a boat load full of research neurologists. Its a sunny beautiful day here in Bellingham.

2005-08-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

August 27 a.m and p.m.: Got whales? Yes!!! Got Sunshine? Yes!!! It was a glorious day on the water for our morning and afternoon trips. Seventy whales from J, K and L pod were traveling southwest of Point Roberts on our morning trip. When it came to time to leave the whales several were rounding East Point on Saturna Island. The whales were traveling in groups, which made them very active and social. We saw more breaches than we could count. Spyhopping was also very contagious; everyone was coming up to have a look around. We caught only fleeting glimpses of a possible new calf, but if there was a new calf it was closely guarded and surrounded by several of it's family members. We could never say for sure but there was one small whale that looked very orange. The grand finale came at East Point near the kelp bed when Flash a huge adult male from L-pod breached three times. The beauty of the day, the glorious sunshine which wasn't suppose to be and having the whales back in the area made it absolutely perfect. We left the whales at approximately 1:00 p.m. by 3:00 p.m. they had traveled down Boundary Pass and around Turn Point on Stuart Island. From Turn Point they kept to their routine and headed south down Haro Strait. There was a one to two foot chop, which the whales appeared to enjoy. Our first sightings were north of Battleship Island off the north end of San Juan Island. The whales were spread out but it didn't prevent us from getting some excellent sightings and a real treat synchronized speed swimming. It is the finest display of the whale's power and grace. We were thrilled when a group of whales came within feet of the back of the boat to check us out. The adventure continued on our homeward trip with stops at Blakely to look at an eagle's nest and to watch Lummi Nation fishermen pull in their catch of sockeye salmon on the west side of Lummi Island. Before rounding Carter Point Captain Mark spotted two adult bald eagles, one very intent on cleaning the feathers off its small dinner. He was unperturbed by our presence. It is hard to imagine a better day on the water with the whales.

WOW thats a big wedding party

2005-08-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Weinstein's.

(apparently I had the flash on)

2005-08-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

August 20 p.m.:Puget Sound and Georgia Strait combine to create one of the richest marine environments in the world. In the absence of our resident pod of Orca Whales we concentrated on enjoying the wonder of the islands and the waters between. The full moon created some impressive tidal currents off the eastern shore of Orcas Island at Point Lawrence where we watched a Harbor Seal munching on his dinner of salmon and several rhinocerous aucklets and gulls looking for small fish caught up in the strong rip tide. We stopped in to look at the eagle's nest at the top of the dead snag on Blakely and on to Lopez Pass to watch Fred the Gray Whale. Seeing a gray whale at this time of year in inland waters is very special. A few will skip the long migration up to the Bering Sea in Alaska but usually they chose to summer of the coast of California or British Columbia . This is the first time in my eight years of watching whales that a gray whale has come this far inland for any length of time. Must be extremely good eating. With the strong currents Deception Pass was a blast. The strong ebb tide made it possible to cruise through without engine power. Cool to see how the current carries the boat with no threat of hitting the rock walls on either side. With no eagle sightings up to this point we were happy to see Mom and junior bald eagle perched close by their nest on the south end of Guemes. Eliza Rock has been the summer home of two California Sea Lions this year another rarity. The girls were hauled our sunning themselves in company with a few harbor seals who popped their heads up from the waters edge to do some people watching. We look forward to our passengers return to see the Orca whales and are happy to report that despite a lack of Orca sightings every one agreed that it was a great trip and a boat trip not to be missed.

2005-08-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Aug. 19 p.m.: Looks like the orcas really did swim off into the sunset the other day - they were missing today. Sure, a little fog hampered search efforts in the a.m., but even when it cleared off in the p.m., there were no orcas to be found. We had a fine afternoon tour nonetheless - watching eagles at Lummi Island and eagle nests at Blakeley and Guemes, harbor seals and pups in the water at Point Lawrence and Guemes Island and on the rocks near Eliza Island, and spending time with "Steady Freddie"/Patch the gray whale near Lopez Pass. We had fun twirling around in Deception Pass underneath the bridge. One of our passengers had a great story about being on one of the points near Deception Pass down by the rocks at the water, when all of a sudden a gray whale surfaced right next to them and did a big dive - it happened 25 years ago but she still talks about it with wide eyes! Most of our group on this trip will be able to come back for their free trip - including a pair that were on their second free trip - doesn't happen too often that you have to come back for your THIRD trip! Third time's a charm.....

August 20 TRIP

2005-08-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Look at those smiling faces. Another beautiful day on the water.

2005-08-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Aug. 18 p.m.: We set out on yet another gorgeous afternoon for what looked like might be another long journey - whales were rumored to be WAY out west, near Port Townsend! Yikes! Any other boat would have thrown up its propellers in defeat, but not the jet-boat Mercury! Off we sped straight to Cattle Pass, taking a quick break to get the latest poop on the whales and enjoy the spectacular scenery - then onwards west. All three pods were out there, spread out for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see. We were able to see a few groups pretty close nonetheless - moms and frolicking babies, some nice breaches (especially the one by a young male close to the stern of our boat!) and, yes folks, even a little bit of mating behavior - it's that time of year! Most of the whales we were looking at were part of L pod, but there were probably some other J's and K's mixed in as well. As we left the scene, the group was heading off into the sunset, their misty blows glistening in the sunshine. We got to visit with Patch/aka Freddie the gray whale at Lopez Pass on our way back - he obliged us with a couple of nice close looks at him and his barnacle buddies - he's also got a number of gull friends who appreciate the food scraps he leaves behind. Harbor seals and a sea lion at Eliza Rocks rounded out the journey today. Another lovely trip and happy happy crowd!

2005-08-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Aug. 17 p.m.: We finally had some rain overnight, and it was still wet and cloudy in the a.m., but the sun came back out for us in time for the afternoon trip - yeah! We knew there were whales out there SOMEwhere, but mixed reports were a little confusing as to their whereabouts. We headed north towards Patos Island, crossing the glassy flat calm waters of the Strait of Georgia -we decided to look for a group of whales reported near Waldron Island. We found them making their way lazily along, heading towards President's Channel southward. They were quite spread out, with a few small groups of moms and babies frolicking together. Turned out to be (at least) the subgroup of L pod, the L12's, which include Mega, Alexis, and Splash (Luna's mom) and Aurora (the baby whale Capt. Mark had the honor of naming last year!). THis turned out to be much to the delight of one of our passengers who had adopted Luna this year. [Luna is the 5-year-old whale who got separated from his pod a few years ago and turned up in Nootka Sound, north Vancouver Island, and has stayed ever since, making friends with boats and people...for more info and updates on Luna, check out www.orcanetwork.org]. We enjoyed a most beautiful evening with this group as they made their way down the channel, with some breaches, spyhops, tail lobs - at one point we had quite a thrill when one of the whales came porpoising fast towards our boat and dove under - we could all see it speed swimming like a torpedo under the boat - wow! We topped it off with eagles at Lummi Island, harbor seals and a sea lion at Eliza Rocks, and some fun surfing in the wake of the Island Commuter on the way home - fun fun!

2005-08-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Aug. 15 p.m.: We headed off into the bright afternoon sun with a boatload of hopeful whale watchers, including 8 young humans equipped with cameras, binoculars, and lots of pretzels. We also had a couple on-board who were returning from our trip last week when we didn't see whales and plowed through some pretty rough seas, getting most of the boat wet! This trip turned out to be flat calm AND with plenty of whales - J and K pods had gone north overnight and were up near the Fraser River and the coal docks earlier this a.m. By the time we got there, they had rounded East Point and were traveling spread out near Saturna Island, gradually heading across Boundary Pass towards Turn Point. K pod was spread far out, but we spotted a pretty tight group of whales in the distance and decided to go see what they were up to - turned out to be J pod, with our pal Ruffles (J1) and his family group in a resting mode formation. "Ruffles! Ruffles" was the cheer that went up - he's ALways an impressive sight. We got some good looks at the J's, and hopefully some good photos for our guests, and headed for one last pass at Turn Point, where we watched K pod start porpoising at high speed for the point - galloping whales! They rounded the point first, with J's following up right along the shoreline. Funny how Turn Point almost always gets those whales in a high-speed mode. Beautiful sight with 40+ orcas swimming off to the south, perhaps to meet up with L pod on the west side of San Juan Island later. When we got back to the dock, one of the youngest male guests came back to find me, and said, "you know what? being with that group of whales today was kinda like visiting with friends..." - YEP! you bet - I know i've said it before, but we are indeed SO lucky to be able to go and visit with our orca friends every day in the San Juan Islands!

Aug. 14

2005-08-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Aug. 14 p.m.: Rumor had it that all three pods had headed west the evening before, so it was with GREAT JOY that we learned they had turned back east and were heading our way again today! By the time we left on our evening trip, orcas were reported in the Victoria B.C. area, so off we went on another long but fun adventure. We sped thru the middle of the islands down thru Cattle Pass and then across Haro Strait to Victoria, where we met up with the three pods, widely spread out and traveling in their separate groups. We chose to observe J pod who were in resting mode - all tightly grouped and surfacing to breathe in unison. Ruffles (J1) and mom Granny (J2) were there, along with the rest of the family, including teenage boys Mike and Blackberry and new baby J41. As they reached the kelp beds at Discovery Pt., we got to see one of the southern resident orca community's unique and cool behaviors - kelping! They swim through the bull kelp and play with it, roll around in it, and drape it across their bodies - must feel good! We also saw spyhops, tail lobbing, and some breaches in the distance. We even had time to stop on the way back to visit with Fred/Patch, our gray whale buddy - he gave us some good close looks today - you could practically see those barnacles smiling on him!

August 13

2005-08-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Freddie's Fluke by R. Parkerson

Awesome day to be on the velvet smooth water enjoying the sights and scenes of the San Juan Islands. Our trip this afternoon almost took us on a complete circumnaviagation of the islands. We enjoyed warm temperatures until we entered Haro Strait on the west side of San Juan Island and then the extra sweatshirts and jackets quickly came out of everyone's backpacks. It was a long trek out to the whales finally finding them 3 miles SW of Hein Bank. Positive identification was made by our three young passengers of Hugo L-71 an adult male. We enjoyed at one point being surrounded by whales and several breaches. The excitement level was high and everyone was thrilled with the whales and how many there were. On our return to Bellingham we were treated to some gray whale watching just south of Lopez Pass. Steady Freddy is still feeding in the mud off the east side of Lopez, surrounded by a fan club of gulls eager to dine on the tidbits that don't get trapped behind his baleen. His movements are just like clockwork up for four or five breaths and down for a dive.The trip home went much too quickly. It was a perfect day and a perfect trip.

2005-08-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Cartwheel (above) and Ruffles (J1) and friends!!
Active Pass (8/12) by F. Sears

Aug. 12 - A.M.: FOG! We headed out this morning into a pretty dense fog that lasted all the way from Bellingham Bay almost to the top of Orcas Island - which meant we had to travel in "go slow" mode while blasting our fog horn. Some of us were wondering if we were going to get through it in time to see the whales. But the fog lifted up north and we were able to jump into "go fast" mode up in President Channel over to Speiden Channel and caught J, K, and L pods in the Henry Island area heading north. Turns out our little fog delay actually helped us out - the whales were in an ideal location for us, north of San Juan Island. They were widely spread out, traveling in small groups at a relatively slow speed - rolling around upside down along the way, breaching occasionally, and tail lobbing. Skana (L79) passed us closely to give us a good look, and other members of L pod passed on both sides of the boat. Beautiful out there once we got through that darn fog! - P.M.: No fog to deal with this afternoon. Another late start which also proved fortuitous for our trip - we were able to accompany J's and L's through Active Pass up in the Canadian Gulf Islands - one of our very favorite spots! All whales were very active - (they don't call it Active Pass for nuthin'!) - they were pretty spread out before they entered the pass, but when they rounded the corner, they grouped up pretty tightly - J's and L's all mixed up - we could see Ruffles in there along with Faith and Hugo, a couple of the L pod adult males, and a mix of females, youngsters, and babies. They splashed along, mixing it all up with breaches, spyhops, upside down swimming, tail lobs, and a few cartwheels - one real impressive one by ol' Ruffles! They continued along in this rambunctious travel along the northern shoreline - should have some good photos from this delightful trip! We left them as they headed off to the north towards the Fraser River, skimming along the flat calm waters of the Strait of Georgia back south, Mt. Baker looming in full glory in the background. K pod had apparently veered off from the J's and L's somewhere around Boundary Pass - we didn't see them this afternoon. Another #10 trip - did I mention we are SOOOO lucky to be able to go out and spend time with the most magnificent mammals every day?!?

2005-08-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

Aug. 11 p.m.: SUPERPOD!!!!! One day no whales, the next day, ALL whales! you just never know.....We headed up towards Active Pass to catch K's and L's (not sure where J's were) - water was calm, sun was out - whales were just leaving Active Pass for the Strait of Georgia when we arrived - groups of whales EVERYwhere - then they started breaching and porpoising and splashing around everywhere you looked. THen one of the B.C. ferries came by and after it passed, the whales started surfing its wake - cool! Surfin' whales! As they got closer to the Tsawassen side, we spotted another group of whales heading towards us - turned out to be the "missing" J pod and they were heading towards the L's and K's - then it just became one big whale party - rolling around, swimming upside down, breaching, spyhopping, tail lobbing - I think love was in the air! There were only a few boats around and it was just so cool to be watching such an amazing event - Superpod Social Time! Lucky us today!

2005-08-11T10:12:00.001-07:00

Aug. 10 a.m.: Well, we had the "Great" and the "Adventure" parts this morning, but without the orcas! We sure tried, though - when we went out, the only news we heard was that one of the pods had headed west of Victoria, and that the other two were unaccounted for. We figured there was a possibility that those two pods had gone north overnight and were somewhere near the Fraser River. So we headed up that way - there was a pretty good breeze blowing and some pretty good size waves and chop to go with it! Cappy Mark figured our crowd was tough enough, so we headed right into it - hoping we'd be the ones to find those whales. In the process we got a little bit wet, with some of those waves coming over the side - but hey! that salt water is good for the complexion! And it was the best part of the trip for the kids. We looked and looked south of Pt. Roberts, then bucked across the Strait of Georgia to East Pt. and looked and looked some more. No whales (though we THOUGHT we saw them a couple of times, but just turned out to be the whitecaps - darn!) That's what makes for the adventure part - the anticipation of finding the whales around the next corner. Not to be today however. We stopped at Skipjack and Matia Islands to look at the harbor seals and pups and bald eagles - saw the eagle nest at Puffin Island and mature and juvenile eagles and lots of turkey vultures at the south end of Lummi Island. By the end of the trip we heard that all three orca pods had headed west - these folks will just have to come back for their free trip to see them! Amazing how each day can be so different - this morning looking out north the water is flat and there's no wind - and the whales are back so I hear! You just never know what kind of trip you're going to be in for. Buy the ticket, take the ride....

2005-08-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Aug. 9 p.m.: Foggy morning cleared off to another gorgeous afternoon - headed off with a full boat to seek whales up north. They were reported heading towards East Pt. and by the time we arrived, they were into Boundary Pass heading southwards. When we came to the "vicinity of whales," we immediately saw a bunch of baby breaches! How lucky is that?! Once we started looking and ID-ing whales, we saw it was J and K pods, very spread out in small groups. We had a close pass by Ruffles (J1) and some other J-podders - a group dove under our boat and when they surfaced on the other side, one of the younger whales breached RIGHT beside the boat!!!!! Yikes! And THEN, it breached three times more!! WE are the lucky boat today! "Well, THAT's a once-in-a-lifetime experience!" remarked one of our passengers! No Doubt! We also got a good luck at Lummi, from K pod, the oldest whale (a female) in the entire southern resident community at 90+ years. Also a number of babies (calves) with their mommas in the distance. Beautiful whale day. On our way back we stopped for harbor seals and eagles - counted 13 bald eagles on our way home, some posing very handsomely for us. Other than eagles, in the bird arena, we saw rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, common murres, black oystercatchers, black turnstones, glaucous gulls, Heermann's gulls, great blue herons, and belted kingfishers, to name JUST a few....

2005-08-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

August 8: We lived up to our name with today's trip! GREAT weather, active ORCA, and a wild water ADVENTURE. Any water park would be thrilled to feature a ride like we had. Our 80 ish couple from Iowa, that left their walkers on the dock, had grins from ear to ear and the best attitude we have had the pleasure to witness. What fun! We bounded down San Juan Channel to catch up with our rapidly west moving pods. As we continued southwest through the Straits of Juan De Fuca, the five foot swells began to lash at the side of the Mercury. Shrieks of joy were heard from the front rows. Before we knew it, J-pod was all around us. The sight of their magnificent and powerful bodies porpoising through the waves was exhilarating. Lots of breaches, spyhops, and dives with tail flukes waving. We had several close passes with the larger J-bulls and with Shachi and J-41 looking robust and healthy. What joy! We left the straits with saltwater angle wings at our sides and wrapped up our trip in the calm waters of Lopez Pass to observe the peacefulness of the resident Gray whale. Quite a contrast to the wild orcas experience! Oh, how lucky we are..

2005-08-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Aug. 7 p.m.: They're BAAAAck!! J's, K's and L's returned from the ocean side this morning to the west side of San Juan Island - woohoo! By the time we went out on our afternoon trip (chock full to the brim with 36 people!) they had traveled north to Turn Pt., where they split off into two groups - we caught up with what looked to be most of L pod swimming north in Boundary Pass. (J & K pods probably headed north into Swanson Channel towards Active Pass.) When we first arrived, they were traveling in a pretty tight group, with LOTS of big males in there - impressive sight! Lots of tail lobbing and upside down swimming with pec slapping and tail smacking. We got some pretty nice close passes by a few groups, including Hugo, Gaia, Mega and their families. East of Java Rocks they headed in close to the shoreline of Saturna Island and hugged the rocks until they got to East Pt. (bunch of folks on shore got a GREAT show there with lots of splashing going on..) And THEN, for their grand finale, after they left East Pt. and headed out into the Strait of Georgia, they went ballistic - turned on the jets and started speed swimming and began breaching like crazy! WHALE POPCORN!! Everywhere we looked for about 10 minutes, whales were jumping out of the water - big ones, little ones, multiple breaches - WOW! Shows don't get any better than that - L pod you rock! Needless to say, our crowd of humans on the boat was blown away by this display - including the veteran captain and naturalist! We had time to stop on the way back to look at harbor seals and a couple sea lions on the rocks, and lots of bald eagles (adults and juveniles) and turkey vultures. We even got to play in some big waves and get a wee bit wet - an invigorating trip to say the least!!

2005-08-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

August 6th, p.m. With the fog completely gone we traveled north up the west side of Lummi Island after crossing Bellingham Bay. We looked at the reef fishing boats and then retraced our route across Rosario Strait to Point Lawrence through Obstruction Pass and on to Lopez Pass to watch Steady Fred. It is a rare treat to view a gray whale in these waters at this time of year. Not quite sure why this whale has decided to take up residency but we are grateful to be able to enjoy his company. After leaving Fred we headed to Deception Pass a very narrow passage between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island. This is one of my favorite spots. It is especially dramatic on a strong flood or ebb tide. With the current running at up to 8 knots whirlpools and all kinds of counter currents take place. No place for a sailboat who can only go 6 knots but a great place for the Mercury to cruise through whatever the speed of the current. Near the entrance to the pass we spotted an adult bald eagle who was looking picture perfect with his pose. Homeward bound we cruised past Washington Park, east through Guemes Channel and around the south end of Guemes Island. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and enjoying the magic of the San Juan Islands. Although the orca whales did not appear our trips had the added attraction of being able to see more of the islands than on a usual whale watch day and fortunatley most of our passengers will be able to take advantage of our no whale guarantee and will be back again to look for orca whales for free.

2005-08-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Aug. 5 p.m.: It happens at times during the summer - our resident orca whales leave the area for a day, two days, or more....and no one can find them. Today was one of those days. Usually they head out west through the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards the Pacific, probably in search of salmon. BUT we had an awesome trip nonetheless....took an island tour stopping to look at the reef net fishery off Lummi Island, bald eagles and their young and a few nests, harbor seals and pups, and spent a lot of time watching Patch, the gray whale, off Lopez Island. Patch was busy doing his gray whale thing, diving to the bottom to scoop up big mouthfuls of sediment to filter out small crustaceans, and coming up to breathe at pretty regular intervals. We also did a little tour of Deception Pass, playing in the waves and eddies and waving to the folks on the bridge 182' above us. We also had some fun playing in the wake of the Alaska Ferry on our way home - not many whale-watch boats you can have this much fun on! Thanks, Cappy Mark - AND, remember, everyone on this trip and all trips where we don't see orca whales, gets a free trip to come back again until you DO see orcas!

2005-08-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

August 4th: Well the day finally arrived. Our resident orcas were no where to be found. This time, even the `Mighty Mercury' could not keep up with their travels. I hope that the journey proved fruitful for our hungry friends, and perhaps they will escort the salmon runs into our area. Meanwhile, it was a delight to have a scenic nature tour through our unique and breathtaking islands. Our trip took us down through Bellingham Channel, under Deception Bridge and around Lopez Island. We observed eagles, seals, sea lions, harbor porpoise and Patch, the gray whale.

2005-08-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

Aug. 3 a.m.: Another beautiful morning, and another intrepid group eager to travel great distances into far-off lands (Canada) to see the orcas. This morning they were spotted up near Vancouver, B.C. so we headed just plain north - we made good time and found the leaders of the pack near Pt. Roberts. Turned out to be J and L pods - good size group of about 50 whales, WAY spread out across the Strait of Georgia. We saw many breaches in the distance and spyhops, and had a couple of incredibly close passes - one by mom and baby and another by a whole L pod family group (~10 whales)! Quite a spectacular day with the whales - plus Mt. Baker in the background, flat calm water, and only about 3 boats in the area! Can't ask for much better!

Superpod deluxe tour

2005-08-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

August 2 a.m.: Got a bit of a late start this a.m. heading out, which turned out to be to our advantage - whales were spotted at Race Rocks (!) this morning, which is west of Victoria - LONG ways off! Our passengers were quite game for a long trip, so we put the "pedal to the metal" and sped out towards Victoria. Weather was great and waters were calm out that way, so we were able to make really good time on the speedy Mercury today. When we arrived at the "vicinity of whales", we heard that all three pods (J,K, and L) were there, spread out across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, BUT in their tight family groups. All the whales we saw seemed to be in resting mode - traveling slowly together in tight formation as a family unit, all coming up to breathe in unison. This is truly a beautiful sight, seeing the family portraits as 20+ whales surface at once to breathe. And the weather couldn't have been more perfect - the Olympic Mountains were clear, Mt. Baker shone back by Bellingham, and you could even see Mt. Rainier off in the distance! Nobody seemed to mind that we'd be back in Bellingham about two hours later than scheduled - (a lucky trip since we didn't have a trip scheduled for the afternoon!) And as if that wasn't enough, we were able to stop and say hello to Patch, our gray whale friend, at Lopez Pass on the way back - as well as many harbor seals, a couple of sea lions, and bald eagles. Very special deluxe trip today - tomorrow maybe a superpod?

2005-08-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

This week we had absolutely fantastic luck seeing the orcas. The whales have apparently been having as much fun as us. They've been having a jumping-splashing--spyhopping-tailslapping-ly good time, and we've gotten to enjoy every minute of it on our high speed catamaran. We've been extremely lucky the we have this boat because the whales have been heading up North into Canadian waters, and we've been one of the only Washington boats to be seeing them.
When we go up North to watch the whales we can see Mount Baker in the background on a clear day. It has made for some fantastic scenery, and as you can see the whales have been particularly photogenic as of late. This is the perfect time to come out with a large group of people and see a large group of orcas.
We've been seeing all kinds of other animals as well. In the past week we've seen orcas, grey whales, minke whales, seals, sea lions, bald eagles, and all types of gulls.
Book a trip today and come have a great day out on the water.

2005-07-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Buddy Swim

2005-07-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

July 27 a.m.: I spotted the J's and L's this morning at 6:15 a.m. on my way back from a camping trip on Clark Island - just north of Clark and Barnes heading north! From a distance, they looked to be in resting mode, traveling all together tightly and all surfacing to breathe at the same time, and moving slowly. BUT....by the time we went out on our morning trip, they had obviously woken up and beat tail towards the Fraser River - they were already north of Point Roberts by the time we arrived on scene at about 11:30 a.m. They were extremely spread out, but active - we could spot breaches from a distance. Not too many boats on the scene either. As the whales got closer, we saw a bunch of baby breaches! Must be practice time. We were also very close to two adult males in the group, J1 (Ruffles) and L57 (Faith) were "buddy swimming" close together, maybe having a guy talk. A few spyhops close to the boat were a big treat, and a mom & baby swam right by us with baby breaching as she passed! Mt. Baker was impressively clear today, providing a beautiful backdrop. Harbor seals and their pups and a couple of sea lions on the way home - we also spotted a good number of harbor porpoise on our route today. K pod is back today - just flew - I mean, swam in from out west somewhere and were reported off the west side of San Juan Island - OK, it's SUPERPOD time!

Mixing it up

2005-07-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

July 25 p.m.: Rumors floating around today about "some whales" off the west side of San Juan Island, but still a large group of "missing" whales. Since we had seen that large group yesterday by Lummi Island heading back north, we decided to head up that way in hopes of finding them coming back south. Lucky day! One of the Vancouver boats that had missed them in the a.m. found them just south of Point Roberts heading our way. When we arrived on scene, the whales were WAY spread out for miles across the Strait of Georgia - whales as far as the eye could see! We followed along slowly for a while until they decided to group up - at that point we could tell it was J pod and a good part of L pod as well (about 40-45 whales!) Ruffles was there along with handsome L pod male Faith (L57) and Hugo, who's just about a full-grown male this year! There was a lot of mixing going on, and we were treated to multiple breaches (especially by the youngsters!), spyhops, cartwheels, tail lobs and waves, upside down swimming and pec slapping, porpoising - you name it! We heard a wonderful array of vocalizations on the hydrophone as well - whinnies, snorts, squeals, whistles, grunts - whale talk! A beautiful sight and sound in the evening sun, whales frolicking and having social time. They then decided to turn around and were heading back north as we left - I think we could have stayed all night, it was such an amazing scene!

Breaching Beauties

2005-07-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

July 24 a.m.: Where might the whales be this morning? Yesterday they were doing some fancy tailwork, going south, then going north, then going south.....We had barely rounded the corner at the south end of Lummi Island and stopped at Viti Rocks, when word came on the radio that a group of whales were spotted near Clark Island (just a few miles north)! As we approached, we could see big splashes in the distance - whales were breaching! Turned out to be J pod and part of L pod - about 40 whales - heading back north towards the Fraser River. They were incredibly active at first, lots of breaches, some spyhops, cartwheels. We had time for many passes, and were fortunate to have one REALLY close pass with about 27 whales in a pretty tight group, cavorting and mini-breaching. I put the hydrophone in the water and we could hear lots of squeals, whistles, and whinnies as they passed - what a thrill! The whales are certainly swimming in some unusual and unexpected patterns lately, making predictions of where they'll be on a daily basis almost impossible. Tomorrow....??? Book for tommorrows trip

2005-07-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

July 21 a.m.: Headed out in the a.m. with another enthusiastic group of first-time whale-watchers, not sure where we were going or what we would see - but boy, were we all in for a treat! First we met up with the L12 subpod of orcas off the south end of Lopez Island heading north towards San Juan Island. We had some nice looks at Mega, the big adult male of this group, and teenager Skana and their families. There were whales as far as we could see spread far out across the straits - probably J's, K's and the rest of L's - a beautiful sight with the Olympic Mountains in the background. Then, on our way home, we got to see a minke whale swimming along all by itself, AND Patch the gray whale at Lopez Pass - this time Patch decided to come straight to our boat and surfaced RIGHT at our bow!! How exciting - that's the closest whale pass yet - he just about bumped our boat - sure could see all those barnacles on him! A lot of passengers got some great photos today, including our younger first timers - What an awesome trip!

2005-07-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Saw the L-12s south end of San Juan Island some nice look at Mega and Skana- What a trip!! We also saw a Minke whale near Iceberg, and Patch the grey whale at Lopez Pass. It came right up next to the boat, the closest pass yet!!

Orcas and a Grey Whale Today

2005-07-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

July 20 p.m.: A report this evening of J pod milling about at Victoria - a bit too far for us to get to, so we opted for the L12's (a subpod of the L pod) at the south end of San Juan Island. They were very spread out along the shoreline, but we got to see a few of them fairly close - it was real nice watching Mega (L41), the big male in this group, in the evening sun pretty close to our boat (with no other boats around!) He is an impressive fellow! We got to go around the south end of Lopez Island on the way back and take a look at Patch, the gray whale. There were a LOT of first-time whale watchers on the boat this evening, and they were very enthusiastic! Hope you guys got some good fotos! Get Back to the Great Orca Adventures Web Page