Top Row: Incredible action shots from the bird watch on 6/12/25 by Jamie Kinney
2nd Row: The T75B’s with Mt Baker on 6/9/25 by Lauren Rasmussen
Bottom Row: The T46B’s & T123’s on 6/12/25 by Lauren Rasmussen
June 9th
What a day to see some orca whales! We departed Bellingham Bay with few reports but were eager to get out on the water to scan. We made our initial stop at Viti Rocks where we saw lots of harbor seals hauled out, thermoregulating. Many glaucous winged gulls and double crested cormorants drying their wings too. From Viti, we took a look at the Sinclair buoy to find three stellar sea lions taking a nap on the bottom of the channel marker.
We continued east through Peavine Pass getting into the true heart of the San Juan Islands, when reports started to come in about the T075B’s making their way north through Cattle Pass. We caught up with some of our fellow whale watchers on the west side of Lopez and the whales took us back the way we came, letting us get extra time with them!
We spent a good while in transit with Pebbles (T075B) and her three kids, Jasper (T075B2), Rubble(T075B3), Petra (T075B4). They swam through Upright Channel giving us great looks at saddle patches and eye patches. Once they hit the mouth of Eastsound, they took a turn and headed north right into the wind!
But oh man, the looks we got were incredible, with Mt. Baker looming above the islands and whales taking down some prey below the waterline. Lots of direction changes and some tail action indicated they definitely had some lunch. The stoke was high getting to see this special pod.
Once we departed the whales, we cruised through Obstruction Pass which is always a beautiful channel to meander through. Getting a great look at the Cone Islands, where the intro to Free Willy was shot, we headed towards the south end of Sinclair giving Bellingham Channel one last scan before heading back into the bay.
June 10th
We started off blind, with no whale reports in the morning, relying on our eyes for mammal sightings. Made our standard quick stop at Viti rocks to look at nesting cormorants and the hauled out harbor seals.
There were two small Stellers on a navigation marker, and one larger one swam up and hopped on. The two that were already there were not pleased with sharing.
We went through the middle of the islands, and saw so many pigeon guillemots on our way through Peavine pass! Absolutely gorgeous day out for a whale watch.
We ended up going south and hung out with a humpback mama and her calf. The calf was making very frequent visits to the surface, and even swam under the boat! Very curious little fella. We identified the mom as ZigZag, and the size difference is always impressive.
On our way home we stopped at Bird Rocks and saw Otis the sea otter munching on some food!
June 11th
As we left the docks this morning, there were reports of Orcas from earlier this morning. We took some extra time looking around Lummi Island on both sides for them, until a report picked up with the T123’s by Decatur coming toward us!
Already in a favorable location, we took some time looking at a sleepy Steller Sea lion on a buoy, and cruised by Bird rocks where Otis the sea otter was rolling around and cleaning himself in the kelp. Sea otters were hunted to extinction in the area 100 years ago, but were introduced recently.
We caught up with the T123’s, Sidney, Stanley, Lucky and Darcy and followed along their journey up Rosario Strait. We saw a lot of great surfacings where all 4 of them came up together.
Other interesting things we got a look at this afternoon: a Canadian naval frigate HCMS Regina 334 was out in the strait in the travel lanes; super large and we had a bit of fun going over their wake. Stopped at the Cone Islands where the pigeon guillemots were super talkative today, and diving down from the cliffs for food. Lovely baby harbor seals at Eliza rocks practicing some swim time on the way back in.
Calm, smooth waters with great viewing, even with the cloud layer over Mount Baker and the mainland.
June 12
We departed Bellingham without knowing how great of a day it was going to be! We started off strong seeing many harbor seals and pups hauled out to thermoregulate on Viti Rocks. We cruised over to the Sinclair buoy and saw three stellars fighting for real estate on the marker. One large male jumped up and we got a good indication of his weight as the marker leaned over to one side. They gave us a good listen to their guttural growl, too. Very fun to see them so active!
From there we headed westward through Peavnine, getting into the heart of the San Juan Islands. New reports started trickling in, which altered our original plans, for the better. We spent some time with the T123’s on the southeast side of Waldron Island. Stanley (T123A) and his two younger sisters, Lucky (T123C) and Darcy (T123D), plus mom, Sidney (T123) gave us great looks with the colorful island as their background. A true display of the sexual dimorphism that is present in this species.
We continued north around Waldron and had some great news of the T046B’s, who were spotted earlier heading north, switching directions and heading south. There were 8 members of this family pod hanging out around Alden Bank, which is right near our home base, making them an easy visit. They made lots of direction changes indicating they may have taken down some prey.
It was so special seeing this pod, as they have a new calf born in 2025, T046B3A, thought to be the first born of T046B3, Sedna. The calf was still yellow/orange in color! We welcomed in this year’s class of 2025 orca babies with excitement and awe. After departing our second pod, we made our way back to the bay through Hale Passage. What a day to remember!
On the bird cruise we saw eight tufted puffins! Almost all solo, until the very tail end of the cruise, we got glimpses of a pair. Found a humpback that fluked for us, for just one set of surfaces before we had to get home. Check out Jamie Kinney’s excellent photo set from the bird watch:
https://www.jamiekinneyphotos.com/collection/smith-and-minor-island-puffins
June 13
An overcast start to the day but it only got sunnier from there! We left Bellingham Bay at a low tide which was fun to see more coast line exposed. We found lots of harbor seals on Eliza Rocks, hauled out. Some pups amongst the mix! We cruised south of Sinclair island, getting a good look at the Cone Islands looking in the intertidal zone for sea stars.
Cruising through the middle of the San Juans is always a treat, getting beautiful views of all the islands. Heading north was extremely beautiful, flat calm conditions angling towards East Point. We scanned diligently in the strait, but found a lot of water. We headed back south stopping to get a great look at the Patos Island lighthouse, 1 of about 40 lighthouses in the Salish sea.
On our way home we cruised along the west side of Orcas Island, and made two pit stops at two channel markers with many Steller sea lions hauled out. The first marker housed many sleepy lions, but the second marker was where all the fun was happening. We encountered some very playful and very curious stellars!
At one point all five were hauled out on the bottom of the buoy. They gave great vocalizations, their deep guttural growl, lots of splashing in the water, as well as falling off the buoy and trying their best to get back on. It’s always fun to get to see them fight for space on the channel markers, but this time was a special encounter. One sea lion got curious and passed under the boat numerous times, probably evaluating if we were a good spot to haul out, before heading back to his crew.
While we didn’t see whales and had to give out bummer cards for half off another whale watch cruise, we had a great day on the water.
June 14th
We started the day with no reports, so we did the classic Viti Rocks and watching sea lions on a channel marker. Again we went for our default path through the middle of the islands via Peavine pass, and headed west.
Later in the day reports came that there were whales in Canada near Active pass, which is right at our further range limit. We were worried that they would continue north, but we decided to go for it. We are so glad we did! We caught up with the whales in the Pass, and they decided to swim right to the shoreline. There was one whale that was doing some maneuvering on the shoreline that resembled hunting.
On the north end of Active, we got some huge waves coming in from a bottleneck effect. They were probably 8-9 ft! Wild. Then it was a calm cruise back home from Canada.
June 15
Happy Father’s Day! It was a long haul to whales today, this time south down to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
We came on scene with a T-party meet of the T34s, T37s and T38C! There was carnage in the water today. The party was doing a lot of hunting activity and caught lunch while we were there. We saw a blood cloud and a few whales with a bite in their mouths as they were at the surface. Happy, fed whales did a spy hop and some tail lobs, before deciding to book it northeast.
On our journey, we also saw Elsie May, the elephant seal lounging on the beach at Skyline. The sea otter, Otis was resting in the kelp at Bird Rocks. We stopped at Smith Island on our way home to see a singular tufted puffin that was preening itself. Finally, we watched 5 stellers on the Sinclair buoy.
