All posts by admin

End Of Season Report – Lots Of Whales & Sunshine All Summer Long!

What an amazing season this was – the weather was close to perfect with lots of warm sunshine, but this was topped by the number of whale sightings. With the season over we saw whales on just over 95% of our cruises, and there was a great variety of whales to be seen as well. In addition to the three resident pods of Orca whales (J, K and L pods), we saw lots of transient Orcas, Minke whales, Humpback whales (especially in May and September), Gray whales and towards the end of the season we even saw a Fin whale a few times.

This season also saw the resident group grow by 5 – 4 of these babies just received names (Scarlet, Nova, Sonic and Windsong) and a fifth (L-122) was just born a few weeks ago and will be given a name soon.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on a tour this season – we’re already at work getting ready for next summer!

Whales & Wildlife Report: So Many Whale Sightings!

It has been an amazing summer filled with great weather and lots and lots of whale sightings. The majority of the time we’ve been seeing the three resident pods of Orca whales (J, K and L pods), with occasional transient Orca and Humpback whale sightings. Add absolutely amazing weather, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures, and it’s been one of the best seasons in recent years. It’s not over yet though – we still have over a month of tours left. More information can be found at: http://www.whales.com/Cruises/San-Juan-Adventure-Full-Day-Cruise.aspx

Bird Watching Cruise – 7-5-15 – Smith Island Puffins

On our final Bird Cruise for the season we went to Smith Island. Smith Island is the only place left in the San Juan Islands where the elusive Tufted Puffins nest and raise their young. It is a remote island and offers the birds an isolated nesting spot. Tufted Puffins usually have the same mate every year and return to the same nesting burrow. Here in the sandstone bluffs of Smith Island they raise their one chick in deep burrows. Both parents take care of the chick and spend their days carrying fish back to the burrow. Within a few short weeks, the chick will leave the nest and start foraging for itself. The thick kelp beds here provide habitat for the small fish eaten by the puffins. By late summer, the puffins will head out to the open ocean where they will spend their winter.

In previous years, Smith Island has always been a place to go and maybe see a couple of puffins. With this nesting colony becoming firmly established, we see puffins on every trip. There were also many other species of birds seen on this trip. There are certain islands where we always see the colorful Harlequin Ducks and Black Oystercatchers. Rhinocerous Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, Common Murres, and Marbled Murrelets are other Auk species that we see.

(Photo Credit to Jim Bachman). Jim has been coming out with us on nearly every bird cruise for the last three years. (When Jim is on the boat, I don’t even take my camera out of its case) He has always generously shared his beautiful photos with us.)

Species list for this trip:

Harlequin Ducks

Great Blue heron

Green Heron

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagles

Black Oystercatcher

Bonaparte’s Gull

Heerman’s Gull

Western Gull

Glaucous Wing Gull

California Gull

Caspian Tern

Common Murre

Pigeon Guillemot

Marbled Murrelet

Rhinocerous Auklet

Tufted Puffin

Belted Kingfisher

Tree Swallow

Violet-Green Swallow

Photos From June 27th Whale Watching Adventure Cruise

It was a great day in the San Juans yesterday, lots of warm sunshine and whales. A former employee, Eric, was onboard and took some great photos which you can view on his blog. We’ve included a few of our faves below.

Whales & Wildlife Report: June 19-21 Beautiful Days In The San Juans

We have really enjoyed all of the sunshine we’ve received this spring – it’s been absolutely gorgeous just about every day we’ve been out this season. It’s now summer, and this weather is set to continue for the next 7-10 days or so. We’ve seen lots of wildlife on recent tours – Minke whales have been plentiful, and yesterday we saw a group of Orca whales on the west side of San Juan Island. Saturday was the best though – transient Orcas (T-69’s) on the outbound trip to Friday Harbor, and a different group of transient Orcas (T-65’s) on the way back to Bellingham. If you want to join us on a whale watch this summer, more information can be found here: http://www.whales.com/Cruises/San-Juan-Adventure-Full-Day-Cruise.aspx

Whales & Wildlife Report: June 6-8 – Sunshine & Whales

There have been all sorts of whales active in the San Juan Islands over the last few days! Our boats have seen the local Orca pods, transient Orcas, Humpback whales and Minke whales as well. The combination of great wildlife viewing and spectacular sunny days has shown that summer is already here! Passengers have also had some great views of Bald Eagles, otters, seals and sea lions with Mt. Baker in the background. Join us out on the water and see for yourself! We are operating our Deluxe Whale Watching Tour that includes a northwest salmon lunch and a 2-hour port call in Friday Harbor every day.

First Bird Watching Cruise Of The Season – Sucia & Patos Islands

The day was just right for bird watching. Calm seas and sunshine. We went up Hale Passage and crossed Rosario Strait to Sucia Island. Slowly cruising around the Finger Islands through Echo Bay, we saw a Pigeon Guillemot nesting colony here. On the eastern side of the bay, there was a large congregation of Harlequin Ducks. It was one of the largest flocks that many of us had ever seen. Heading north and rounding the northern tip of Patos Island gave us a great view of Mt. Baker with the lighthouse in the foreground. There were many harbor porpoise and harbor seals feeding in the tide rips. One of the harbor porpoise had a very small calf with her. Harbor porpoise are very boat shy, and they do not come close. However, we had a small pod come right next to the boat. We returned home on a different route and saw many different species of birds to add to our list. The nesting colonies that we observed were Pigeon Guillemots, Double Crested and Pelagic Cormorants, and Glaucous Wing Gulls. There was a pair of Black Oystercatchers at the same nesting spot that we observed last year; they tend to not nest in colonies.  Last season we were able to watch the chicks from incubation to almost fledging. We saw two Peregrine Falcon nests and a Bald Eagle’s nest. One of the parents was feeding the chicks.  One of our passengers was able to add five birds to her Life List.

Species List

Harlequin Duck

Surf Scoter

Brandt’s Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Peregrine Falcon

Great Blue Heron

Black Oystercatcher

Bonaparte’s Gull

California Gull

Caspian Tern

Glaucous-Winged Gull

Pigeon Guillemot

Rhinoceros Auklet

Rock Pigeon

Belted Kingfisher

American/Northwest Crow

Tree Swallow

Violet-Green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Pacific Wren

White-Crowned Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Lots Of Whales – Orcas And Humpbacks

As we move from weekend whale watching tours to daily tours, we’re encourages by all of the great whale sightings we’ve had so far this season, as well as the amazing weather forecast over the next 7-10 days or so. Although there was some light rain today, it’s supposed to warm up into the weekend, with temps in the lower 80s. Now’s a great time to head out to the San Juan Islands on our whale watching tour and beat the summer crowds, while enjoying some great summertime warmth out on the water.

Here are a few photos from some of our recent tours – the first four of which came from from one of our passengers (First four photos below courtesy of Webb Photos).

Incredible Whale Sightings in May!

The Victoria Star has been out on our deluxe whale watching tour of the San Juan Islands on Saturdays and Sundays in May and has encountered a all sorts of whales throughout the islands! Last weekend we had a great show with a humpback whale off of Saturna Island and also found J-Pod off of False Bay on San Juan Island. Our resident Orca had one of their newborn calves with them and its mother was proudly pushing it up out of the water to show it off to our passengers! Sunday’s cruise was capped off with an extremely rare sighting of transient Orca whales inside Bellingham Bay. As the ship was returning to our Fairhaven dock, we were greeted by a group huge male killer whales looking for dinner! Captain Don “San Juan” Wight described them as “Just massive!”. We will continue to be running our deluxe whale tour featuring our Northwest salmon lunch and 2-hour port call in Friday Harbor on the weekends in May and everyday beginning June 1st. Come enjoy a day in the San Juan Islands with us!

A Beautiful Start To The 2015 Season!

We’ve had rainy, gray and windy weather often in the past – it’s always a possibility in the early weeks of May. This year was different though – yesterday we had warm, sunny skies with temperatures in the 70’s. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any whales, but lots of other wildlife including a group of porpoises. Today (Mother’s Day) isn’t quite as warm, but we were fortunately to find a Humpback whale up in the north end of the San Juans. With a sold out boat the pressure was on, but we were pleased to get a good view for our guests today. We’re only running weekends until Memorial Day weekend, so your next chance to go out with us will be next Saturday discover this.