Whale Watching Report

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Blue Skies and Golden Exhalations

"Even before leaving the dock a curious Harbor Seal gave us a great look as he cruised on by! Once outside the marina it wasn't long before Captain Carl spotted the golden exhalation of a Gray Whale off the north end of Gedney Island! The blow belonged to none other than our old friend Patch, #49. He gave us great looks as he made his way northward showing off his collection of barnacles! Our guests learned quickly why we call him Patch when he came along the port (left) side of the Island Explorer 3 showing off his giant white patch on his back! Our guests also enjoyed visiting with rafts of Western Grebes, Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Glaucous-winged Gulls all while enjoying blue skies, warm sunshine and an incredible look at the Olympic Mountains!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 8:07 PM   0 Comments

Saturday, March 28, 2009

4 Gray Whales Sighted Today

Our guests watched gray whales in clam water near Langley today, making us 7 of 7 tours for this season. "Under a blanket of gray we spotted the white exhalations from 4 Gray Whales in the distance. In the waters of Saratoga Passage we found Gray Whale #22, #21 and one unidentified whale that didn't expose its back enough to be identified. The three whales swam slowly across the channel towards Camano Island and one unexpectedly on a couple of surfacing really brought its rostrum high out of the water exposing its large eye!! Further south near Gedney Island we found our old friend Patch, #49, feeding solo. In the midst of the trip the liquid sunshine gave way to actual sunshine! We also saw on the trip: Western Grebes, California Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Cormorants, and Pigeon Guillemots!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 4:51 PM   0 Comments

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Two of 4 gray whales traveling together today!


"Gray Whales in sight!" reported Captain Carl from the Island Explorer 3. Our guests are watching the whales just north of Gedney Island. Stay tuned for updates from Naturalist Bart Rulon. We had some rain today but it didn't seem to matter to the whales. The first gray whale Carl spotted was #44, Nubnuck. He gave us many good views, and we watched him for about 15 minutes. We saw another gray whale close by feeding near the north shore of Gedney Island so we cruise over to check him out. It turned out that it wasn't just one gray whale, but three!! It was #21, #22, and #49, Patch. They started to group up and swim offshore toward us. Often all three would surface at the same time. Pretty soon #44 swam over, and we had 4 gray whales traveling together. A harbor seal soon joined the whales by following close behind them. The four gray whales gave us great views, over and over, as they surfaced close together. On the way back to the dock the rain stopped for good, and Captain Carl spotted yet another gray whale, #53. #53 was diving deeper than our previous 4, and he showed us his tail for a great whale finale. Other wildlife spotted today included California sea lions, pigeon guillemots, common loons, white-winged scoters, and western grebes. Naturalist Bart Rulon

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 12:59 PM   0 Comments

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Gray Whales Feeding In The Shallow Waters!

The Island Explorer 3 is on scene with 3 gray whales just off Port Susan. Next available tours are March 25th, 28th, 29th and April 1st.

GW # 22 & GW #723
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Feeding in the Shallows (GW #383, #22, & #723)
Photo by Naturalist Kate Janes
"It was a day of firsts! We found what we thought were 3 Gray Whales up in the waters of Port Susan, only to discover there were actually 4 (#49, #22, #383, & #723)!! In 3 seasons I had never visited with #723 and was very excited to have the opportunity to get acquainted! Also, this was the largest group of Gray's seen swimming so closely to one another that I have ever experienced. They gradually made their way towards the shoreline of the mainland, then Patch #49 made a sharp turn towards Gedney Island. Apparently he wanted a "dinner table" all to himself, for the other 3 whales proceeded to enter waters roughly 10 ft deep. Rolling about we had the rare opportunity to see pectoral fins raised high in the air and half a fluke exposed! This was all happening while the 3 whales remained close to one another! Eventually they moved out of the shallows and upwind of us allowing our guests to experience their smelly breath!! Sadly we had to leave, but we found Patch and had one last visit before returning to the dock! Also seen on today's adventure were hundreds of Western Grebes, California Sea Lions, half a dozen swimming Harbor Seals and Cormorants!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 11:59 AM   1 Comments

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Gray Whales Sighted from Island Explorer 3!

Gray Whale #383 getting ready for a deep dive


Gray Whales and calm seas made for a great day for our guests on the water. We sighted 2-3 whales today and we have had reports of about 7 in the area. Stay tuned to the whale report for details from Naturalists Bart Rulon and Kate Janes and click here to see the location of the whales from space.
Captain Carl spotted our first gray whale of the day before we left the dock this morning, while he was drinking a cup of coffee. After leaving the dock we slowed down to check out three California Sea lions on a channel marker. Next we cruised over to look for the gray whale Carl spotted. He was in shallow water in the river delta not far from a bald eagle perched on a channel marker. It was too shallow for us to get a close up view of this whale so we decided to look for other whales in deeper water. Our plan worked perfectly because we found one of our favorite gray whales, #383, at the south end of Camano Island. He was raising his tail flukes on almost every other dive! After watching 383 for about half an hour we started looking for more whales. We found Patch, #49, swimming not far from Hat Island. Other wildlife spotted today included western grebes, brant, and harbor seals. We had a little bit of rain today, but nobody seemed to mind because the whales were so cooperative. Naturalist Bart Rulon

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 1:32 PM   0 Comments

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Three Gray Whales today

#53 surfaces close by.

A gray whale spy hop surprises a few surf scoters!

The conditions were ideal for whale watching today, with some sunshine and very calm water. We started our trip out by watching three California Sea Lions as they lounged around on a channel marker near Jetty Island. It didn't take long after that before captain Michael spotted our first gray whales of the day near Whidbey Island. As we cruised over to see them we saw a huge flock of western grebes that numbered in the hundreds. Soon after that we were close enough to watch our two gray whales. One was Patch, #49, and the other was #53. They gave us many great looks. #53 surfaced with his head far out of the water on one occasion, and Patch swam right up to our stern while we sat motionless with the engines shut off. Next we traveled up the shore of Whidbey Island and found one more gray whale that was feeding in the shallows with a flock of surf scoters following nearby. We weren't able to identify this individual but he showed us one of this tail flukes several times while he was feeding near shore, and he did one spyhop for us!! Next we headed back to look for our first two gray whales again, and we found them swimming and surfacing side by side with the Cascade Mountains in the background. Other wildlife spotted today included many harber seals, red-breasted mergansers, and pigeon guillemots. What a great day for my first trip of the year! Naturalist Bart Rulon

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 8:23 PM   0 Comments

Island Explorer 3 On Scene with Gray Whales

Captain Carl called in to report that our guests are watching Gray Whales! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for details on today's tour from Naturalists Kate Janes and Bart Rulon.

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 12:03 PM   0 Comments

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Gray Whales Sighted and Orca Whales Nearby

The Island Explorer 3 is on-scene with Gray Whales in Possession Sound. There was also a report yesterday of J-Pod Orca Whales in south Puget Sound. If the Orcas are in the south sound over the weekend, maybe we can show you Gray Whales and Orca Whales on our weekend tours! Stay tuned to the Whale Report for more details on today's tour from Naturalist Kate Janes. "Moments off the dock just off the west side of Gedney Island we found Gray Whale #356!! Slowly cruising through the water it took quite some effort to figure out which guy we were visiting. This coupled with the fact that after his long downtime there was really no telling where he would reappear! After a couple of good looks we ventured north up Saratoga Passage in search of any of his giant grey friends! We found Gray Whale #383 back with #356 at the sound end of Gedney Island! During one surfacing we actually smelt him before we saw him!! Yet another great day out on the water with a few breaks in the clouds allowing the brilliant blue sky to shine down on California Sea Lions, Pigeon Guillemots, Surf Scoter, Harbor Seals, 5 Bald Eagles, Cormorants and Western Grebes!" - Naturalist Kate Janes

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 1:36 PM   0 Comments

Monday, March 16, 2009

Bonus Trip This Week!

After a fantastic day out on the water with Gray Whales on Saturday there has been a high demand to run a mid-week trip this week!  So we are adding a trip for this Thursday, March 19th!!  We will have trips out on March 19th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 28th and 29th!  Starting April 1st we will have daily departures!  

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 9:35 AM   0 Comments

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Gray Whales Sighted by Island Explorer 3!

Captain Carl just called in to report that they have sighted Gray Whales! They are just south of Eastpoint in a little rain and the wind had calmed down. Stay tuned to the Whale Report for an update from naturalist Kate Janes on the whales, eagles, and other wildlife.  "We have returned to the water!  Our first day started out with a little liquid sunshine that early in the trip that gave way to actual sunshine!  Shortly after leaving the dock we stopped to visit with a juvenile California Sea Lion that found himself a nice haul-out spot on a channel marker!  Wrapping around the east side of Gedney Island we saw multiple rafts consisting of hundreds of Western Grebes!  We continued northward toward Camano Head where we found a pair of Bald Eagles flying along the shoreline near their nest located up the hillside!  Just off shore we saw a large group of Surf Scoters and some active Glaucous-winged Gulls!  Our journey then took us towards the Clinton Ferry terminal when we received a call to help search for a person who had fallen off a sailboat!  It wasn't long after that we heard the person was safe, sound and warming up after their unexpected "swim" in the frigid waters of the sound!  Knowing all was well we were able to continue our own search for some Gray Whales!  Near Langley we found 2 Gray Whales headed southbound!  The first whales of the season, #53 & #531, were slowly making their way in our direction allowing us to have some quality time and great looks!  We even witnessed a few sounding dives where the whales brought their flukes out the water which received some oohs and awe's from our guests!  It was great being back out on the water and visiting with a couple of our old friends!"  - Naturalist Kate Janes   

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 12:58 PM   0 Comments

Saturday, March 7, 2009

First Trip Will Be Saturday, March 14th

Waves Breaking Over Dock
photo by Naturalist Kate Janes

Under partly blue skies we arrived at the dock to find the most severe winds we've seen in this area! The white caps that were inside the marina were breaking over the dock- we have never seen conditions like this in all our days departing from Everett! After observing the weather system for a few minutes we reluctantly canceled the trip out of comfort for the passengers, since the waves were only bigger on the other side of Jetty Island which acts as a breakwater. That means the 1st trip of the season will now be this coming Saturday, March 14th at 11 AM.

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 1:47 PM   0 Comments

Friday, March 6, 2009

Gray Whales from Dock

Today Captain Carl saw 2 Gray Whales from the Island Explorer 3 while still tied to the dock! They should be close tomorrow for the first trip of the year. We should have a report up from tomorrow's trip by 12:30.

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 4:11 PM   0 Comments

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Another J-Pod Orca Baby

More great news of another J-Pod calf. That makes a total of 3 babies this year, 2 in J-Pod and 1 in L-Pod. There have also been multiple Gray Whale sightings in the Everett area this week and our first Gray Whale tour for 2009 will depart from Everett at 11AM this Saturday, March 7th. Stay tuned for a live whale report from Everett on Saturday - we should have one for you early in the afternoon!

posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 10:02 AM   0 Comments