Whales & Wildlife Report: A Season Of Great Transient Orca Whale Sightings

It’s been an amazing, and interesting whale watching season so far. Our success rate for seeing whales on our whale watching tours has never been better – since we started in early May we have seen whales on nearly 98% of our tours. While we have occasionally seen the resident pods of orca whales, most of our sightings have been of transient orcas and humpback whales. Unlike resident orcas, which primarily feed on salmon, transient orca whales feed on larger prey such as harbor seals. The large population of harbor seals in the San Juan Islands has resulted in more transient orcas being “less transient” this summer.

Sightings have been equally good on all three of our whale watching tours – our Deluxe, Express and Evening tours. If you would like to see whales in their natural habitat, with the stunning scenery of the San Juan Islands, now is the perfect time to sign up for a tour!

(Photo by crew member Matt)