Whale Watching in the San Juan Islands of Washington State

We had the opportunity to see six or seven transient orca whales travel past the Orcas ferry dock and past Deer Harbor today. I was lucky enough to see the transients from my home in Deer Harbor. This particular group of transients are often seen around the islands but rarely through the inside passages. Some folks saw whales from the ferry today which were either the transients in Harney Channel or J pod, who were by the Anacortes ferry dock traveling south in Rosario Strait around 4PM today and earlier off the Pea Pods near Obstruction Pass.

If you would like more information on transients go to this link. Very informative: http://www.orcalab.org/about-orcas/information/transient/index.htm

The fact that the transients were coming north up Rosario Strait, while J pod was going south, and with the change in direction the transients made by heading in to the islands (west) while J pod continued south, is an example of the unsociable behavior they have towards each other.

May 2, 2007 - Today we came across J pod in the middle of Haro Strait doing all sorts of breaching. One three year old orca breached about 15 times in a row next
to the boat.

With all that excitement, I got a call from the only other boat with the whales, reporting he thought he saw a very little whale that looked like a brand new baby. He said he followed it with it’s mom, and he was pretty sure of it.

The whales were everywhere, so we shut down and drifted, hoping to catch a glimpse of this new baby.

We never did see it, but the Center for Whale Research did, and later called to report they were able to definitely confirm this little one, which is less than three days old. The mom appears to be Slick, J-16, approximately 34 years old. She already has three offspring with her, a seven year old, an 11 year old and a 15 year old. She is lovingly referred to as “Slick and the boys”.