Pacific white-sided dolphins in San Juan Channel

People have all sorts of top five lists. Being a wildlife watcher, I have a top five wildlife experiences. I would never have guessed on a rainy afternoon in late November here in the San Juan Islands I would have a top five experience.

In the early afternoon of November 28, I got a call from Ivan saying that a pod of fifty or so Pacific white-sided dolphins were seen from the ferry outside Friday Harbor. Their direction of travel was unknown and he wondered if I had seen any. I hadn't but immediately scoped the channel from the cabin. When that proved unproductive I walked around the island checking in all directions; still no luck.

Around 2:30 I was preparing to leave to run errands when I saw Ivan in the channel headed north. He called to saw there was another report; this one said they were near Reuben Tarte Park. He said he'd call if they found them. Two minutes later he called and they were with the pod. I forgot about my errands and headed NW to meet up with Ivan and the dolphins.

It was immediately apparent that there were way more than 50. I could see Lags (short for Lagenorhynchus, the genus of Pacific white-sided dolphins) in all directions almost as far as the eye could see. Various gull species were active above the dolphins so we assumed the dolphins were feeding. Given it was dark and rainy photography was pretty tough. Plus I was in the boat by myself. The dolphins were enjoying riding my bow wake so I left the boat in gear and stepped back from the steering wheel (my version of autopilot) to see if I could get any shots. The following was the best I could do.

Riding the bow wake

I decided to put the camera down and just enjoy the experience. After 15 minutes or so there seemed to be a lull in the action. But then there was a loud noise to the south. We all turned to see the dolphins in a line nearly across the channel from Jones Island to San Juan Island racing towards us. I grabbed the camera and clicked off the following series of shots.

Beginning of the stampede

It was truly amazing. There was so much energy! They continued north towards Flattop Island. We followed from a distance for five minutes and I headed back to Friday Harbor.

Heading north towards Flattop Island.

In the discussion that followed, no one I talked to knew of any other time that a pod of that size had been seen in the San Juans. Groups of 12 to 50 have been seen occasionally, but certainly not every year. So seeing what we guessed at as 300-400 Pacific white-sided dolphins was a no brainer, clearly a top five wildlife experience. And I'm really glad that Ivan, Chris, Katie, Jeanne, and Jim also got to see them from the two other boats that were out. Thanks Ivan for the call!