Pacific Whale Watch Association

8/28/2010: We started our journey today by venturing through the inner San Juan Islands. We spotted harbor seals in a few different spots along the way. Next we exited the San Juans through Cattle Pass and then we headed northwest and found orcas along the west side of San Juan Island. It was J-pod and K-pod orcas. The first few whales we spotted were J26, Mike, K22, Sekiu, and K33 Tika. They gave us some great viewing as they came up together. We also spotted a larger group closer to shore including J27, Blackberry, J34, Doublestuf, J28, Polaris, J46, and others.

We had our first superpod of the year today!! It rained on us most of the day but the whales didn't mind at all. Our viewing started at Colville Island where we spotted some harbor seals and a few harlequin ducks. A few minutes later we watched a black oystercatcher harass a bald eagle that was perched near his nest on Swirl Island. We caught up with a superpod of orcas near Lime Kiln park on the west side of San Juan Island. The orcas were milling around near the shoreline for most of our visit today. They seemed to be doing lots of socializing, and mating today.

Today's trip started with our usual sighting of two ospreys at their nest and a California sea lion on the first channel marker. There were lots of crab boats out today between Hat Island and Jetty Island so we had to travel a long ways to find a gray whale. We went all the way past Langley on Whidbey Island before we spotted a gray whale, but he gave us a great show. He started out showing his tail flukes on many occasions before he swam toward shallow water in front of Langley.

Our guaranteed Gray Whale tours start March 7th operating from Everett, Washington. The whales have shown up early this year and we're expecting a great spring season! In 2008, we saw whales on every single tour in March and April. We also expect to see California Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, Harbor Porpoises, and a huge variety of seabirds. All guests will receive a 64 page color wildlife viewing guide, and lots of one-on-one information from our onboard naturalist.