Over the last two weeks we have moved from operating only weekends, to our current 7-days/week service. The whale watching has been very good over the last two weeks, with Orca and Minke whales seen most often, along will occasional Gray and Humpback whale sightings. The weather continues to be great as well, with calm waters and lots of sun!

The whale watching has been excellent over the last two weeks, with frequent Orca and Minke whale sightings. Just as impressive is the weather we have had, calm conditions in the islands and lots and lots of sun! Temperatures are supposed to sneak into the low 80’s this week, and will hopefully extend into our scheduled trips this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now is a great time to visit the islands, or go whale watching, before the summer vacation crowds hit Bellingham and the San Juan Islands.

Our San Juan Island Commuter service to the San Juan Islands, as well as our whale watching tours, began this season on Friday and it’s been a great start to the season! The weather has been perfect, with lots of sun and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60’s. Best of all though, the Orca whales have been seen on all of our whale watching trips so far! They started off just off shore of San Juan Island, but have been seen further north more recently, close to Pt. Roberts. We currently have seats available for our tours next weekend, May 22-25, but space is limited, so call or book online soon.

Today is the first day of operation for our San Juan Island Commuter service to the San Juan Islands (Eliza, Sinclair, Blakely, Orcas, Lopez and San Juan Island/Friday Harbor), as well as our whale watching tours from Friday Harbor. The weather is going to be great this weekend, with lots of sun and temperatures in the high 60’s to low 70’s. We have plenty of space available for our trips this Saturday and Sunday. If you would like to go out to the islands next weekend, we are filling up fast for the Memorial Day weekend holiday.

I just came across a great Orca whale blog site called Whale Of A ‘Purpose’ written by a local whale enthusiast that is packed with great photos and lots of tips on identifying whales. With the sun out today, looking at this blog makes me wish we were still running tours….spring is just around the corner though!

The resident Orca pods have become a little more difficult to find this past week, however, we’ve been luck to find transient Orcas just outside of Victoria. The weather has been beautiful too, making this possibly the best time of the season to see the San Juan Islands and Victoria. The forecast is good through the upcoming weekend, with lots of sun and temperatures into the lower 70’s.

Yesterday was the last day of the season for our Friday Harbor / Whale Watching tours aboard the Island Commuter 2. The season ended on a big high note, with several Superpod sightings through the week, as well as a few transient Orca sightings.

We are still running our trips to Victoria daily through September 28th. On this tour we pick routes in both directions with the best chance of seeing Orca whales along the way - this season we have seen them about 75% of the time. We offer a low season discount of $25 off the regular adult round-trip cruise fare between September 8 - September 28, so now is a great time to book a trip to Victoria before the season ends!

The week started off great, with "superpod" sightings and great weather. The Orca sightings tapered off the last few days, but there was still plenty of wildlife to be seen out in the islands, including a tiny new baby porpoise. It looks like the weather should improve later this week. Our Friday Harbor/Whale Watching tours end in 11 days, on September 1st, so if have been putting off a trip to the San Juan Islands, or a whale watching tour, now is the time to go!

We had a great week of whale watching, starting off with a Superpod (all three resident pods of Orca whales clustered together) on July 9th. K pod then disappeared for the rest of the week, but we had frequent sightings of the other two pods (J & L) nearly every day. Throw in some sun and temperatures in the mid-70’s, and you couldn’t ask for a more perfect week of cruising through the San Juan Islands!

It’s been another great week for whale watching . We had another rare "Superpod" sighting on Sunday, June 21st, where all three pods of resident Orca whales were together in one huge group. Other days we’ve spotted J and K pods on their own. We have also had a young Sea Lion (perhaps a Stellar Sea Lion) hang out near our dock in Bellingham - it’s fun to see interesting wildlife just seconds after departure!