Whale Watching Report

The Island Explorer 3 has just left the dock to show our guests Orca Whales!! Warm temperatures and sushine will make this a great day to be on the upper viewing deck! Stay tuned for updates from Naturalist Kate Janes as we cruise toward False Bay near Haro Strait!

Taillobing (Mike)

Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

"On days like today the only place to be is on the water! We weren't the only ones enjoying the heat wave as we passed channel marker #5 with one large California Sea Lion hauled-out! With news of the orca whales of J pod being near False Bay we headed towards the southern end of Lopez Island. We then stopped by my favorite place in the islands, Castle Rock for a slow down to check out the geological history of the islands! Not long after Castle Rock we spotted our first whale! The first whale that we saw was Ruffles, J1! At 57 years young he sure does stand out with his over 6 ft tall dorsal fin!! We spent some great time with this local celebrity (you can see footage of Ruffles in the first installment of the Free Willy Movies)! We even were able to hear his exhalations as he effortlessly moved through the water! After a time we ventured over to another sub-pod who was also continuing in a southward direction. To our delight we enjoyed time with Granny (J2, presumably Ruffles' mom), Mike, Slick and one year old J42 (who will be getting named by the Whale Museum this summer)! We also saw during our journey Rhinoceros Auklets, Bald Eagles, while with Ruffles we actually had an Osprey fly overhead (!!), Pelagic Cormorants, Glaucous-winged Gulls, California Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Bull Kelp, Pacific Madrona Trees, and Pigeon Guillemots!!" - Naturalist Kate Janes