Whale Watching Report

The Island Explorer 3 is off the dock in search of whales! We're heading toward Haro Strait to check out an early morning report of Orca Whales in the area. Stay tuned to the Whale Report for updates on the whales and lots of other wildlife from Naturalist Kate Janes! "Entering into the Strait of Juan de Fuca through Rosario Strait we made a long run towards Constance Bank! Along the way our guests enjoyed an array of wildlife! At Castle Rock a Great Blue Heron fished from its nice spot ontop of Bull Kelp, a mature Bald Eagle few overhead, and a couple of Black Oystercatchers hopped about the rocks looking for their next meal! In the strait Harbor Porpoise swam among feeding Red-necked Phalaropes, deep diving Common Murres, and the low moving beautiful Lion's Mane Jellies that floated by! We welcomed K & a portion of L pod as they reentered the San Juan Islands! The whales were quite spread out in small subpods swimming steadily northward! We enjoyed the company of Splash (L67), Gaia (L78), Alexis (L12) and Cappuccino (K21) as we listened to their exhalations which carried upon the water! They all seemed to be on a mission to reunite with the rest of the Southern Residents that were further north within the San Juan Islands! The party started that evening even before getting on scene with the Orcas! At Salmon Bank a Minke Whale breached an outstanding 3 times- fully breaching tail & all out of the water! It left us all stunned! In Haro Strait we found the Super Pod that fully lived up to its name! All three pods (J, K, & L pods) were stretched out over a few miles! The whales were in high spirits as breaching, spyhopping, cartwheeling, and taillobing could be offshore as well as right along side San Juan Islands shoreline! Among some of the whales we saw included: Mega (L41), Ruffles (J1), Blackberry (J27) & Mike (J26)! Their exhalations appeared white as they swam in waters that appeared black due to the basalt shoreline!" - Naturalist Kate Janes