Whale watching tours

Our Local Wildlife

Everyone wants to see Orca Whales, and the San Juan Islands have some of the best locations in the world for doing that. During the summer months these whales travel in a very consistent pattern around the San Juan Islands. Because of this, we can view them almost on a daily basis.

Few people realize that all the Orca whales in the southern resident community have been identified and catalogued by distinct marking located behind the dorsal fine across their back. Because of these marking our trained naturalist can quickly identify which whale we are looking at and the relevant information pertaining to that whale.

Sea Lions Besides Orca whales there will probably be many other animals that we will see on our trip. Believe it or not, there are trips where we may not see Orca whales but that doesn't mean you won't fill your lens up with other Northwest favorites. The first thing we usually see and one of the most entertaining is the Dahl's porpoise. Colored just like a Orca whale, many people will swear they are viewing a pod of baby Orcas but they are actually viewing a close cousin or we should say the Orca whale is actually a Orca porpoise, which it is! Osprey Another wonderful mammal that frequents are area is the Stellar Sea lion, which is the largest sea lion in the world and almost as big as a female Orca whale. The California Sea lion which routinely swims up the west coast to Seattle for tasty salmon (up the coast in seven days) only to be captured and transferred back to California. Other critters that we see almost on a daily basis are Seals, Elephant Seals, River Otters and many types of seabirds including the Tufted puffin.

Our first wildlife stop of the day is at a place called Smith Island. At this location we view bald eagles in all there glory and numbers, sometimes as many as 25. It is also one of only two locations in the entire Northwest, where a pair of bald eagles as made a nest on the beach, in the driftwood, a spot we can see from the water. This will be the fourth season we have watched this pair of eagles raise a pair of young at this location.

One of the most common questions is how do we find the whales? The best way is to use local knowledge of what the whales do on a regular basis. Orca whales tend to be like deer or elk in terms of their habits and how they follow well-worn routes around the islands looking for food. In addition there is now a large network of other whale watch operators looking for the same objective, so radio communication will often yield valuable information as to their whereabouts.

Telephone: 360-385-5288
E-mail: info@pugetsoundexpress.com