From Incredibly Small to Impressively Big!

Today brought sunshine, no fog, calm seas and...whales!  We find Granny and J Pod to the south of Lopez Island, cruising the shore line.  Fins cut through the flat water, followed by long dives.  Perhaps the salmon is swimming deeper today?  Today there are Gull chicks on the wildlife refuges,  five or six Steller sea lions, hauled out on the rocks and many mom and pup Harbor seal duos.  I hope for a look at a pup hitching a ride on mom's back.  I am rewarded!  The new life here abounds.  I keep a sharp look for the Bald eagle chicks that are finding their way out of the nests now...but...today they are well hidden.  An adult Bald eagle sweeps down to the water twice, rising with nothing in it's talons.  On the third dip down to the water it rises with something grey and fluffy?  I look and look with binoculars, but my only clue is really the feathers that come flying out of the prey as the eagle digs into it's meal.

Here's a pup trying to catch a ride on mom's back!

Gull chicks are really fluffing out!  And noisy!  From biggest of the big, to smallest of the small...an amazing day on the water!

The Magic of a Wish

What would you like to see today?  I stand on the bow with a young guest and we scan the water.  Orcas!  It's a quick reply.  Well, yes, Orca whales!  Of course.  And we spend an hour watching K pod as they travel toward the Fraser River.  The whales are into traveling mode and they are in tight family groups.  The mothers and younsters, including adult male sons, pass by the island shore...up and down, fast and slow, so graceful!

The whales are magnificent...and there is so much more.  What else would you wish to see?  She says, "Eagles!"  We scan the trees for a white golf ball, high in a tree, where a golf ball should not be!  Success!  A majestic adult perches amidst the green branches.  Then, suddenly there is an eagle flying across the boat, right in front of us!  Wait!  Not one, but two, no, three!  Amazing!

Now what?  And the wishes for more magical appearances continue to flow.  How about a Harbor seal mom and pup?  Ok!  Let's wish for more seabirds!  Pigeon Guillemonts?  Ok!  Let's wish for Harbor porpoise!  This one took a bit longer to materialize.  But, best of all...the magical presence of Orca whales.  K pod!  Thank you!

Pigeon Guillemot in flight across the bow!

Harbor seal in camo outfit

K pod cruise by

What a perfect morning out on the water...in the company of wonderful people, wildlife...and, yes, whales!  Magic.

Summer Daze

Look Who's Cozied Up in the Cove!

The whale watch trips keep flying by every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  I am continually amazed that I call this "work" as it is far from the job I used to do as a teacher in public schools, but no doubt about it...it qualifies as a job: marine educator.  Oh, and we joke about the rest of it....snack bar girl, coffee barista, first aide responder, safety monitor, entertainer, line handler, wildlife spotter, boat crew, window washer, storyteller and island ambassador.

Each day is a new adventure.  Capt. Pete checks all our sources, figures out where the whales are or will be, then we get our passengers aboard, (make up to 32 new friends), and
 away from the dock we go, never knowing  exactly what we will find, but confident that it will be an awesome trip!  These busy summer days that means, two trips a day...with lots to see and experience!

Whale Hi-Five

Here's a member of our Southern Resident Orca pod giving us a pec fin wave.  The large pectoral fins resemble large rounded paddles, but the bones inside show five jointed "fingers!"

Belly Chin Roll

Here's a look at a beautiful white underside.  The corkscrew roll maneuver looks so graceful.













This adult Bald eages stand in good viewing places looking for the next meal and keeping an eye on the chicks.

What are you doing down there?

Harbor Sseal Honeymooners

The Harbor seals are right in the middle of pupping season and pups are everywhere!  It looks like these two are taking a little break from it all.  

 This day we find J pod traveling north way up in Canada, headed for a little waterway between the Canadian Gulf Islands, known as Active Pass.  The current really runs swiftly through here....and so do the Canadian ferries, and today, 7 whale watch boats...along with 25 - 30 Orca whales!

Tail Fall

There is no doubt about it, the whole family group is going to go all the way through the pass, but there is still time for diversion.  Tail slaps create their own waterfalls!  One whale spy hops to have a good look around.  Some of the especially large males, think 27 feet long and 8 tons, hug the shoreline.  How close can you go???



                                       

I Spy...I Hop!

Here Blackberry, J-27 and younger sibling cruise in the Strait of Georgia together.  Such perfect syncronization.  It's a graceful dance they do together, in perfect time and position.

J Pod Family Council

All in a row....there they go...

How could I forget.  Did I say...part of the pleasure of the job is to snap photos?  Later at home, the images of the day float across my "mind screen."  They float across the computer screen too, and when possible, I add a post to the company website blog:  http://orcawhalewatch.com/whale_watching_blog/

or send a few photos to guests who have requested them.  

My days seem charmed.  Happy Whales to you...'till we meet again.

The More We Get Together....

I remember this song as something like:  "The more we get together, together, together, the more we get together, the happier we'll be...."  And so it is, it seems, with Southern Residient Orca Whales today.  Our morning trip takes us to Rosario Strait with reports of J family coming south and K's and L's headed north after coming into the area in the early morning hours!  Whales are exicitng.  Two or more families meeting up after time away from each other...now that's incredibly exciting!

K-21 glides by us!  Hello!  It's been almost a month since I've seen you!

When the J's, K's, and L's get together, especially after a bit of a separation, there's bound to be displays of exuberance.  Translation: breaches, spy hops, porpoise swimming, cartwheels, rolls, tails slaps....all of it!  And today proves my theory correct!

Here's a "High-Five" pec slap from someone!

And how about a "Chin Up....Fin Down.." kind of action?

Some tail slaps...the bigger the splash...the better the slap!

An then, as if the dance has been called...the tight social groups disperse...and here Blackberry and younger brother, Mako...take off at high speed for...somewhere!

Then, my favorite...roll call...all group up and the family heads off together...because, the more we are together, the happier we'll be!

And in the Fog We Saw....

Oh these foggy mornings...and afternoons!  Weather surprises abound as this is more like August (Fogust)...than July.

Our search today takes us south into Haro Strait and Iceberg Point on Lopez.  Sounds interesting, right?  And interesting it is, as we approach the Cattle Pass fog bank...and upon entering, the curtian goes "up" and little by little (drum roll please)...the fog disappears.  Ahhhh, a July day after all!  And who should be swimming our way to greet us?  Yes!  J pod matriarch J-2, Granny in the lead.  Oh I want to be in shape like she seems to be when I'm 100 years wise.  Then I remember, that means swim 125 miles every 24 hours, eat lots of omega 3's...maybe um, 150 plus pounds a day....oh, stick with your family always...no matter what the fuss...together, wherever, we are.

Yep, my hero.

We are loving this morning spent in the sunshine and calm water watching whales crusie by.

As a bonus a little stop to find an adult Bald eagle peeking up over a rocky ledge in a nice grassy spot.  We find it, it finds....us!

The day continues with our 2:00 p.m. trip taking us north into Canada.  Who would know...we find the rest of J pod and some L's, in the Strait of Georgia, but today, sticking to the east coast of Saturna Island.  Upon arriving, we hold our breath for a moment, as there is a slight slight chance the pod will turn and disappear into Boat Pass....but...no!  We are in luck and we spend a wonderful hour watching them tail slap, breach, spy hop, porpoise dive / swim....oh, and parade past the locals on a small beach...up close and personal!  One more thing....this day, the afternoon light...total delight!  See if you agree.

How about a few upside down rolls?  Or back swimming, pecs up?  Fluke waterfalls?

Or, the kelp game?

Or maybe....a good long look around!

Remember I Spy?

Now You See It...Now You Don't

Our trips today take us from one end of the island to other.  Some of the day is spent in fog and some of the day in bright sunshine.  Along with fabulous views of our Southern Resident Orca whales we are lucky to see Harbor seal pups sprawled on the rocks next to moms, Bald eagle chicks perched on the edge of massive nests with adult Bald eagles nearby, Rhinocerous auklets with tiny sliver fish stacked crosswise in their beaks and returning Heerman's gulls.  There is a lot happening out on the water today.  All we have to do is pull away from the dock and begin watching!

Can you spot the Bald eagle chick hiding...well, almost hiding, behind the tree trunk?

We are careful to stay a good distrance away from the mom and pup pairs so the seals continue to rest together on the rocks.  Soon the adults and pups will be swimming together, heads popping up and down in the kelp beds.

Although the morning trip begins in the fog, we find J pod on the west side of the island!  Here's a J pod member popping up for a personal look around in the mist!

The whales continue north as we part ways and head back to Friday Harbor.

In the afternoon we once again head into fog, and luck is with us as within an hour it magically lifts.  J pod appears, now flipping directions they swim in our direction

It's a day full of contrast.  There is new life: a tiny seal pup keeps close to mom.

An impressively big eagle chick stands alone in the nest.  Parents stand as sentinels nearby.

J pod mom Oreo tracks through the water of Haro Strait with almost adult son, Doublestuf, cruising nearby.  The dense and heavy grey fog bank suddenly disapates as if a magician has lifted a curtian.

Another amazing day on the water!

O-K! It's K Pod Surfing Along on Saturday!

Energy!

OH....K....it's good to see you again!  Today we catch up to K pod as they travel north at a good clip in Haro Strait.

They are in smaller family groups and everyone loves seeing the younger ones pop up beside mom.

Grey sky this morning and no one cares.  Many of our guests are escaping the heat in their home towns.  Once we are motoring parallel to the whales, all eyes are fixed on the beautiful, graceful, black and white creatures!

Here's little K-44, born in July of 2011.  Yep!  Growing up!

Yep!  Another pup!  Harbor seals are plentiful this morning along the Cactus Island rocks.  We watch them....they watch us.  More youngsters to enjoy.

The afternoon trip begins with a long run north, north, and further north.  We've heard the whales have gone through Active Pass.  Will we find them within our range?

YES!  First the Cookie group cruises by.  Now here comes Blackberry and sibling.  He's so flashy!

The sun appears, the water is flat and we have whales swimming toward us, then by us...well, all around us!  In the distance I see this little one playing a game of I Spy.  And I Hop!

I Spy Vancouver!!

A few yards from this game is another game.

May I have your attention please?!!  Absolutely.

It's a wonderful encounter with many J pod whales.  Hard to remember it's time to turn toward Friday Harbor and drop back into another world.  Probably no I Spy games tonight for us.

And We Fly Across the Water!

Waterfall Tail-Fall

We are away from the dock and practicaly flying through the water as we head north, north, north today!  The whales are in Canada and there is no time to waste.

Coming to the junction of two channels we are rewarded with the sight of fins!  Lots of fins heading for a small pass.

The water today is calm except for areas of current.  There it races past underwater obstructions and along the shore.  The whales seem to pick up on the energy of the water and tide rips by picking up the speed themselves.  A few huge tail slaps get my attention.  A juvenile pulls off a backward breach.  More fluke action!  The light is perfect for an "orcas in the mist" type photo.

Someone calls a switch!  Whales head for the opposite shore and what a sight!

Could they actually be showing off?  SO close to the beach and so many admirers on shore!

A long run, sunshine, warm weather, flat water...and yes, whales!  Ever wonder how does a whale play hide 'n seek?  Take a peek!

Celebrate With J Pod!

J Pod has is our steady companion for these first few days of July.  We find them this morning off the west side of San Juan Island in beautiful sunny and cool summer weather and temperatures.  What a change from the rest of the USA right now!  It seems the J pod males have a few fireworks of their own left over from the 4th of July celebrations!

On our morning trip we spend time with Polaris, J-28, and her calf.  The other two calves from this matriline are present as well and the mothers.  What a great group!

Here's one of our resident Bald eagles in hide 'n seek mode.  We are fortunate to see the check sitting high on the edge of the massive nest, which the adults are a distance off.  Perhaps it's "take a break" time?

It's hard to believe just how big this little "chick" is and that it will soon be making it's way to a close branch, then up or down a branch, and finally the day of the big event: fledging!!  We hope we will happen to be present...invitations please?!

The afternoon trip presents the chance for another visit with J Pod and five members of L pod.  These whales have been together for about two weeks now.  The open saddle patch on Fluke is a dead give away, racing alongside, yes, Racer.

We also see a few Harbor seals on our way back to the harbor.  This is the pupping season so soon the water will be full of little tiny Harbor seal heads bobbing around.  There's always something new to look for!

There's nothing like a Harbor seal head bobbing around in the kelp....taking a sun bath in the perfect summer weather!  Is there?