Tag Archives: gray whales

2018 Season Off To A Great Start, With Lots Of Orca And Humpback Whale Sightings

Our whale watching tours have been very successful, with sightings of transient orcas, humpback whales, minke whales, and a few gray whales so far. The resident orcas are back as well, and with the weather becoming more and more summerlike each day, now’s a great time to join us on one of our tours! (The chart above shows the locations of our sightings so far this season)

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!

Gift Certificates For Our 2012 Season Available

Treat your family, friends or co-workers to a unique Northwest experience. Our tours will run May through September next year.

There are two options available:

–Our 8-hour San Juan Adventure day cruise, which includes a narrated tour through the scenic San Juan Islands, whale watching & wildlife viewing, a 2 hour shore visit in Friday Harbor, and an on-board meal (adult price $99).

–Our popular Chuckanut Bay Cracked Crab dinner cruise aboard the Victoria Star 2 (adult price $59).

Gift certificates may be purchased by phone (1-800-443-4552) or at our ticketing office at the Alaska Ferry Terminal in the historic Fairhaven district of Bellingham. Our office is open 8am – 5pm Monday through Friday.

Lots & Lots Of Whales!

The Orca whale sightings have been great over the last couple of weeks. On one of our Victoria cruises we even hit what our captain called a “trifecta”, with sightings of 3 different species – Orcas, Minkes and a Gray whale. The weather has been kinda so-so in recent days, but the forecast is calling for sun Tuesday – Friday. Sun, whales, the San Juan Islands and Victoria – it’s going to be a great week to take a boat trip!

Recent Orca Whale Sightings

We started our cruises to Victoria, the San Juan Islands and whale watching on April 30th this season, and have had lots of great whale sightings so far. Of the three resident pods of Orca whales, we’ve seen J and L pods so far, but have also been lucky with finding transient Orcas and a few Gray whales too.

5/15 – Transient Orca Whales
5/14 – L-Pod (Orca Whales)
5/12 – Gray Whale
5/9 – Transient Orca Whales
5/2 – J-Pod (Orca Whales)
5/1 – J-Pod (Orca Whales)
4/30 – J-Pod (Orca Whales)