2009 Whale Sightings Blog

Our trip today took us up Hale Passage to Boundary Pass. We saw a pair of eagles on Lummi Island perched side by side. In Swansons Channel we encountered the whales. All three pods were identified. They were breaching, spyhopping, doing cartwheels, and lots of tail lobbing. They were everywhere. A group surprised us and appeared right behind the boat and passed alongside of us. There were so many breaches and activity that no one missed any of the activity. It was a super day whale watching. Our route home took us through narrow Active Pass and down Georgia Strait. There were harbor porpoise, harbor seals, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, a loon, cormorants and a great blue heron. We have seen the orcas on every trip in the last week and half. Before this we had some trips where the orcas were too far north or west for any of the whale watching fleet to see. Now it looks like its going to be a great summer!

Here are some of passengers comments:

"Thank you for an experience of a lifetime. Bucket list item complete!" and "I liked everything! Professional, knowledgeable, thanks for showing us all of the wildlife."

We met up with the whales in Bellingham Channel. This is always nice, because it is so close to home,  we get to spend a lot of time with the orcas. We saw J pod and parts of L pod. Everyone took lots of pictures of J27, Blackberry with his sister J31, Tsuchi and their little six year old brother J39, Mako.  Mako means ‘sperm whale’ in Japanese. Their mom died last year and they are very tight knit group. Mako stays close to eighteen year old Blackberry all the time. Their aunt J19, Shachi and her four year old calf are also in this group.  We saw both of the calves that were born in February. They look so tiny next to their moms, but they are 6 to 8 feet and 200 to 400 pounds at birth! There were lots of breaches, tail lobs, and spyhops.  Other wildlife that we saw included harbor seals, harbor porpoise and marine birds: pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, double crested and pelagic cormorants and two bald eagles perched on tree side by side on our way to see the whales. We took a scenic route home through Lopez Pass and up Lopez Sound past Spencer Spit and then Peavine Pass. These are narrow passages and allow everyone to get a close up look at the islands. The beautiful red barked twisted madrone trees cling to the rocky shoreline cliffs and turkey vultures and eagles soar overhead. We took a detour to a small island to take a look at the chicks in an eagle’s nest. We don’t actually get a good look, just a head or two that might pop up to look for their parents and food. They will fledge next month. It was just ‘another’ day in the San Juan Islands.

This was one of our passengers reactions to listening and seeing the orcas. (We put a hydrophone in the water to listen to them chattering back and forth).

"Listening to the whale's sound under water - loved it. When I saw my first orca I cried. I enjoyed learning and engaging  with these beautiful animals. P.S. I will return!"

Today we knew the whales were out in Haro Strait. The reports we were getting: they were headed north, they were headed south, and they were headed north again. They were doing the San Juan shuffle. We started out going through the middle of the islands, then decided to head north over the top end of Orcas Island and continue west where we thought we would meet them in the north end of Haro Strait. We wound up doing a left turn and going south down San Juan Channel. We were now doing the San Juan shuffle! When we came out of the channel we went towards Salmon Bank southwest of San Juan Island. The whales! They were in all directions, foraging, meandering, breaching and spy hopping.

As we were looking off in the distance at the orcas, an unusual fin appeared in front of the boat. It didn’t look quite right. Then this finned creature came right up in front of the boat going across the bow within ten feet. Well, it wasn’t an orca, it was a Minke Whale! It came up so close, that when it exhaled, P U!! The wind was just right and it saturated us with Minke breath. There is no way to describe Minke breath. It is odorous, to be polite. This was one of the littlest Minke whales I have ever seen. It might have been a just weaned calf. The nursing period for these whales is not very long, and unlike the orcas, they don’t stay with their moms their entire lives. We watched the Minke travel off, and then saw that there were two Minkes. They are usually solitary whales. However, sometimes we will see two or three in an area. A Minke whale is a baleen whale, not a toothed whale. They gulp a large volume of food filled water into their mouth. Its throat stretches like a big balloon, and as the whale closes its mouth and contracts the throat pleats the water is forced out through the baleen. The organisms are left in the mouth and the whale wipes them off the baleen with its tongue and swallows them. They can get up to 35 feet and 15 tons, although the average is 27 feet and 10 tons. That’s still a lot of whale! They can be difficult to spot because they spend less time at the surface than other whales and they don’t follow a straight path. Researchers call them the “Slinky Minke”. We watched the Minkes for awhile, and then went back to watching the orcas.

The whales were everywhere we looked. We I D’d most of J pod, and some L’s. What a fabulous whale watching afternoon. As we finally turned to head for home, we encountered the Minkes again. This time we saw one lunge feeding. This is when they come up from the depths and it looks like a half breach as it gulps up food filled water. On our way home we stopped at Bird Rocks to look at cormorants and the harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. There were harbor porpoise all over this area. We don’t slow down to look at them, because they are boat shy.

Beautiful weather, great whale watching, scenery and wildlife. Does it get any better?

One of our passengers didn’t think so: “The boat ride was worth the price of admission. The whales were the frosting on the cake. You do a great job.”

Each day this weekend just keeps getting better! Today we went through Peavine Pass and down San Juan Channel. The whales were up by Lime Kiln Lighthouse. They were spread out for miles and it appeared to be all 3 pods: a superpod! They were playing in the kelp like yesterday, spyhopping, breaching, tail slapping, and foraging. There was one juvenile who did two breaches in a row and came very far out of the water with each one. We went home through Mosquito Pass, a beautiful passage. We went by Speiden Island and stopped to see the bighorn sheep that had been imported there in the sixties. There was a herd on the northern tip of the island consisting of a dozen sheep.

The owners at that time imported antelope, Sika deer, and bighorn sheep. They were going to make a game park out of the island, but sold it instead. The animals were left and they have done just fine on their own. The birding today consisted of marbled murrelets, pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, numerous gulls and cormorants. Your browser may not support display of this image.

“Enjoyed the info that came along with the tour, especially facts and stories about whales.”

“It was the first time I ever got to see orcas in the wild! Great time! I will recommend to all my friends coming this way.”

Not only did we get to see whales today, but because of their location we were able to take the scenic route. We took the beautiful narrow passes that take us right through the middle of the islands. This is always a great start because of the bird sightings. Today we saw marbled murrelets, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, cormorants, and numerous gulls . We arrived to the south side of Stuart Island, and there were the whales! It was J-pod travelling north and very spread out. Ruffles, J1 gave us a really good photo shoot as he passed by the boat. Granny, J2 was not far behind. There were some breaches by the juveniles, and we sighted the new calves born in February (there are two). The whales were playing in the kelp as they went by. The bull kelp can grow to up to 100 feet. The whales like to swim through it and drape it around their dorsal fins and tails. We hope the whales are here to stay for awhile. This is our second day in a row spent with J-pod. There were other whales, but we never got close enough to I.D. them. (Probably part of L-pod). Some comments: “Great naturalist – knowledgeable, personable. Boat was comfy and we saw lots of whales!” “Great job; great to see the engine room, and whales!” “Thank you for a wonderful experience for our 21st anniversary!”

It started out as a rainy day, but once we were out in the islands, the sun began to shine and it warmed up. This is typical. We can leave Bellingham in the rain, go out to sunshine in the San Juan Islands, and return at the end of the day to a rainy Bellingham. The islands are considered the “banana belt” of the Northwest. The Orcas were on the west side of San Juan Island early in the morning heading north. It seemed as though they would take a routinely known path through Active Pass and out into the Strait of Georgia. We headed north and this is where we found them. They were very north! We could see the city of Vancouver with its skyscrapers off of the starboard side of the boat. We stopped and drifted and watched the whales heading towards the Frazier River. They were actively foraging, and it seemed as though the feeding was good. There was a lot of fish chasing and feeding. This was a good sign, as the Orcas have been scarce in this area probably due to a lack of salmon. Ninety percent of their diet is salmon. They need to eat 200 to 400 pounds of salmon a day. When you have three pods of orcas that number in the eighties, this can add up to a substantial amount of fish! J1 Ruffles and J2 Granny were off in the distance (mom and son). However, we were treated to close up views of Mike J26 and his buddy Blackberry J27. They are two eighteen year old males that have grown up together. So it looks like the salmon have arrived and so have the whales!

After two days without seeing whales, we finally hit the jackpot! (In the baleen whale world). We didn’t see Orcas, but we did see two minke whales and two gray whales (one pictured below). After spending some time at Hein Bank with two minkes, we then went to Smith Island. At right is the eagles nest that we saw on a sand spit. The nest was on the ground and the size of a large desk, and the pair of eagles were standing watch on the tower. This nest is in a very precarious place, and the eagles must have to do a lot of rebuilding in the spring after the winter storms. Eagles will reuse their nests year after year. Our other wildlife sightings today included a Stellar sea lion swimming by the boat, harbor seals, harbor porpoise, a tufted puffin, (such a treat for the birders), rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, cormorants, common murres, numerous gulls and too many eagles to count! They were all on the main part of Smith Island, which has two more eagle nests. Not too bad of a count for San Juan Island wildlife. Another beautiful day out in the San Juans.

Today we went sightseeing up to the Patos Lighthouse on Patos Island, the furthest northern island of the San Juans. At the tip of the island, there were tremendous riptides, and easily a hundred or more harbor porpoise. They were everywhere! We watched them for awhile, and once again set off to see the eagles nest, hoping to see the chick again. On Clements Reef we watched the harbor seals, and there were two oystercatchers on the reef. A tour through Echo Bay brought us another beautiful sightseeing tour. The Orcas have been gone for a bit now, more than likely out west beyond the reach of any whale watching boat. When we set out in the morning, we never know if they might have come back in overnight. They can travel a hundred miles or more in a day. The San Juan Islands has always been the summer home for all three pods. However, the past few years, the sightings are sometimes spotty. This is probably due to the lack of salmon, which is their primary food. Once the salmon numbers start to increase in the islands as the summer progresses, they will be here feeding. But it is anyone’s guess when that will be. Meanwhile, we’ll look at other wildlife and enjoy the scenery.

This is why we call them rock sausages! These are a couple of the hundred or so harbor seals that we saw on Clements Reef today. We went north to Boundary Bay today to see if there were gray whales there. We didn’t have any sightings, so we decided to go to Sucia Islands, where we stopped to see the eagle’s nest, and finally saw one chick popping up its head. A tour through Echo Bay brought us sightings of Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinoceros Auklets, Cormorants, and numerous gulls. We didn’t see Orcas today, but we did see harbor porpoise, harbor seals, birds, and beautiful scenery.

It was another day in Boundary Bay to see gray whales. As it turned out they were there, but in water too shallow for us to venture. Grey whales, even though they average at 35 feet can feed in just ten feet of water. So we repeated our sight seeing expedition that we did on Saturday. (See previous report). Our wildlife sightings for the day: hundreds of harbor seals hauled out on Clements Reef, numerous harbor porpoise throughout the day, a caspian tern, pigeon guillemots, rhinocerous auklets, eagles, cormorants and numerous gulls.