Captain Brian Goodremont and Naturalist Jesse had an amazing trip yesterday. Brian said this trip was easily in his “Top Five” transient killer whale encounters ever. It’s not often that Captain Brian experiences many “first times” on the water because he’s be on San Juan Island since 1998.

In the early spring months, most of our Southern Resident Community of killer whales are out in the open ocean feeding on salmon. Although we don’t see the J, K, and L pods much, we...

Had a great tour yesterday with a family willing the brave the cool and damp weather. We ran a circuit in North Haro Strait around Kelp Reef, Henry Island, Stuart Island, and Speiden Island. We were hoping to encounter a group of Transient Killer Whales (marine mammal eating) that have been sighted frequently in the area. Weather conditions made visibility greater than a mile difficult. We did not see any whales, but did find large groups of Harbor Porpoise in Speiden...

Our Southern Residents continue to be seen in the northern part of Puget Sound (Port Townsend, South Whidbey Island). Both J-pod and K-pod have been spotted between the 16th and 18th (when the new calf was first reported in J-pod).

There have also been lots of Transient (marine mammal diet) Killer Whales in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. On December 21st, several Transients were spotted off the west side of San Juan Island, and later in the Kelp Reef area.

It's official. Scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center have announced a new calf in J-pod, J-48. The calf belongs to J-16 "Slick", historically a very successful mother who has 4 surviving calves. This is great news for J-pod which now has a total number of 27 animals, and is the pod most frequently seen by our summer tours.

The calf was confirmed in Admiralty Inlet Area on December 21st. J-48 brings the Southern Resident Killer Whale population to 89...

We had absolutely stunning autumn weather this year. It extended far into November, and even a little into December. Long time locals couldn’t remember the last time we’ve had such beautiful late November & December weather.

Everyone on the island is in the holiday spirit! Downtown Friday Harbor is decorated with beautiful twinkling Christmas lights. Nearly every storefront has gone all out with their decorations! Even the lamp posts have HUGE lighted snowflakes. Friday...

Although our Southern Resident Killer Whales have started to spend more time in the South Puget Sound area in recent weeks, they still come cruisin’ near San Juan Island. All three pods were spotted in Haro Strait several times in November so far!

Firstly, Captain Nancy and Noelle were super excited about their last whale watch trip on the Sea Hawk, which was on October 29th. Noelle, Nancy, and guests on the Sea Hawk ended up encountering J-Pod off of Hein Bank! Noelle...

That’s what one of our guests said about our trip on Sunday. Little Macie just turned 7 years old and her mother, aunt, and cousin surprised her with a fun day out on the water!

Although we didn’t see killer whales, we still had amazing luck on both trips this weekend. Please keep in mind, San Juan Outfitters is pretty much the only company still operating this late into fall! On both days, there were only three other whale watch & wildlife companies on the water, for...

We all cannot believe this wonderful luck we’ve been having! The weather on San Juan Island has been perfect. It’s been chilly at night, but the days are crisp and comfortable. Everyone on the island is in full-on Autumn Coziness mode! Pumpkins, winter squash at the local Farmers’ Market, and harvest celebrations. The whales must know that we are all in love with the fall wonderful-ness, because they are still here too :).

Captain Nancy and Naturalist Kevin had a group of...

It seems as though the 2011 season is really, reaaaally, starting to wind down. Almost all the employees are on exciting winter-season adventures, or are back in college. It also means that our San Juan Outfitters Blog will be updated less frequently. It’s not because the wonderful wildlife isn’t out there, though! It’s just because we are all snuggling in for winter and are running trips much, much less often.

Here are some interesting updates about the wildlife within...

Yup! October Orcas. I know we’ve said it a hundred times before, be we are very lucky to be seeing killer whales this consistently, this late in the fall. These Southern Resident Killer Whales feed on the Chinook Salmon. Basically, the Chinook Salmon govern the SRKW movements. Remember, an adult orca needs about 400lbs of salmon a DAY! Usually this time of year, the salmon have already completed their annual runs through this area, which means the killer whales most often...