The baby belongs to L-86 an orca named Surpise!. The letter L stands for the pod and the number 86 means that Surprise! was the 86th orca counted in L-pod since we began counting. The baby is L-120. What makes this birth especially exciting is the fact that new baby  L-120 is the first new calf for  Continue Reading

Help us celebrate the bounty of the autumn harvest! Bicycle to three working farms for a tour and a chance to meet & greet Lopez farmers. Learn about how conservation and agriculture can work together. Following the bike tour, we’ll gather at the historic Port Stanley Schoolhouse to enjoy delicious locally grown food, drinks, music  Continue Reading

  The second annual Fall Garden Plant, Seed and Tool Swap is just around the corner on Sunday, October 5th at Brickworks. The swap is an opportunity to trade garden cuttings, starts, seeds, tools, books and garden art for things you might otherwise buy. Swap-goers should bring items to trade by 11:30am for the pre-swap preview. The swap will  Continue Reading

If you are a fan of folk songs and history, live music and song, don’t miss the event Griffin Bay Bookstore is hosting for Michael K. Honey on Saturday, September 13, 7:00 pm. The University of Washington-Tacoma author and professor will present his latest book: Sharecropper’s Troubadour. This special event will also include a slide  Continue Reading

With the change of the seasons you may be getting in firewood and making applesauce already but don’t put away that beach towel just yet! There is still good swimming in our Island lakes and ponds. With this sunny September weather the pond was a little warmer today than it was even a few days  Continue Reading

Snooky Tarte has donated her blue ribbon quilt as a raffle item to raise funds for the Dave Hall Benefit.  View the quilt and buy raffle tickets at Island Glass Monday-Friday through September.  Only $1 for 1 chance and $5 for 6 chances. Downtown Saturdays ticket table locations to be announced. Drawing will be held at the Benefit for Dave  Continue Reading

Photographer and naturalist Katie Jones captured these orca whales with her camera in President’s Channel off the west side of Orcas Island. Says Katie, “These are transient orca whales goofing around after they made a breakfast kill.” What a way to start the day!

Friends of the San Juans wishes to thank the 29 volunteers from Orcas, Lopez, San Juan, and Shaw Islands as well as LUSH Seattle store volunteers who participated in a shoreline work party at Fossil Bay on Sucia Island. Following a beautiful boat ride to Sucia and an overview of the value of beaches to  Continue Reading

Lama Khenpo Pema Wangdak will be teaching a week long Shamatha meditation retreat October 3 – 9 at San Juan Island’s Tibetan Buddhist retreat center, Sakya Kachod Choling, on top of Mt Dallas. Shamatha, is a basic meditation practice that predates Buddhism and is the basis for many other meditation practices. There are no prerequisites  Continue Reading

With fall approaching San Juan County once again looks toward the rainy season.  Last year the season started with a shockingly large storm event that overwhelmed our Eastsound storm sewer system.  With that memory almost one year behind us the Stormwater Utility is moving into the final phase of County wide stormwater management planning. The  Continue Reading