Weekend Window: San Juan Islands
April 8, 2007 — -- For a whale of a trip, nature enthusiasts must add the San Juan Islands, a group of small islands off the coast of the Washington state, to their must-vacation list.
You don't even have to leave dry land to see whales. At Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island, from May and through September, the whales come so close to the shore that even landlubbers can enjoy a great view.
"We've determined over the years that about one-third of the time these killer whales will pass by within five feet of the kelp, which means right next to the rocks," said Dr. Robert Otis, a professor of psychology at Ripon College in Wisconsin who studies orcas in the summertime.
But most visitors want to get even closer to the whales by taking a whale-watching tour.
"If you're coming out here for the first time, one of the commercial whale-watch boats is the experience of a lifetime," said Capt. Brian Calvert, former port commissioner of Friday Harbor, the main gateway for travel in the San Juan Islands.
"All of a sudden, whales will pop up out of nowhere," he added. "It's just a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
And there are lots of whales to see in the San Juan Islands, according to Capt. Dan Wilk of Orcas Island Eclipse Charters, which gives whale-watching tours that leave from Orcas Island.
"There are 89 whales total in all, 3 pods, that live in our area here," Wilk said.
The San Juan Islands are about more than just whales. They're about porpoises, too.
"The porpoises love to follow and bow ride," Calvert said. "That's actually our favorite, is to get out on the bow and hang out on the bow, and watch the porpoises jump up underneath you. Life doesn't get much better than that."
The San Juan Islands have a loyal following of nature lovers.
"These incredible animals are living out here; this is their world," Otis said. "We are visitors to that world. We see, year after year, people returning. Especially if they've seen the whales on more than one occasion, they'll continue coming back. It's addictive."
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