Pacific herring – also known as forage fish – play a key role in marine food webs as food for out-migrating juvenile salmon, seabirds, and even marine mammals. Herring rely on sensitive eelgrass meadows found along our tidelands to spawn and incubate their eggs. Herring spawning populations in the San Juans are classified by the  Continue Reading

More good news from the Center for Whale Research… This video was taken during our encounter with the endangered Southern Resident killer whales on September 5, 2020. All three pods (J, K, and L) came together in the same area. This gathering is known as a Superpod. Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, Founder/Senior Scientist,  Continue Reading

Good news from the Center for Whale Research… click image to enlarge… On Saturday, September 5, 2020, J pod was reported near the ODAS buoy off Dungeness Spit in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in US waters. Another large group of the endangered Southern Resident killer whales was a few miles away near  Continue Reading

We hear from Tanja at the Land Bank… Make some room in your freezer – deer hunting is open for early and general seasons only at Lopez Hill and Mount Grant Preserves. Specific dates are as follows: Archery: September 1 -25 Muzzle loader: September 26 – October 4 Modern Firearm: October 17 – November 1 Be  Continue Reading

From The Whale Museum… After over 5 months of being closed, we got word that the Governor is allowing museums to open in Phase 2 (8-2020)! The Exhibit Hall and Gift Shop are open daily 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.  We are diligently following every rule put in place by the Health Department and Washington  Continue Reading

In the San Juan Update mailbag this afternoon we have this letter from Tanja at the Land Bank… Hello San Juan Update! I’ve been posting our weekly “nature notes” on our facebook and Instagram accounts since April, and today’s posting features a pilot project to help the Island Marble butterfly thrive. I think it’s a  Continue Reading

The North Pacific Right Whale: Why You Should Care about the World’s Rarest Whale Join Friends of the San Juans and Kevin Campion of Deep Green Wilderness on July 23 at 6:30 pm to hear about Kevin and his team’s expeditions to film the North Pacific right whale.  You’ll learn about what right whales mean for modern  Continue Reading

2020 Summer Marine Naturalist Training Program will be Virtual The Whale Museum’s Summer Marine Naturalist Program is going virtual. This dynamic and high-quality program will still be 6-sessions and run on the following dates: July 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, and 22 with a one daybreak on July 19. The object of this program is  Continue Reading

OLYMPIA—As summer gets into full swing and people spend more time outside, state and federal officials and local beekeepers hope the public will keep their eyes open and report any sightings of Asian giant hornet. “When it comes to preventing and stopping a new invasive species, we all have a role to play and this  Continue Reading

This FHL Tide Bite was written by Jen Burnaford… My first trip to UW Friday Harbor Labs was in 1995. After completing my undergraduate thesis on freshwater zooplankton and spending a post-bac year chasing primates through the jungles of Borneo, I had been accepted into the PhD program at Oregon State University in the Menge/Lubchenco  Continue Reading

We are living in a time of unprecedented trial. In an effort to bring you a much-needed reconnection to the natural world, Friends of the San Juans would like to invite you to attend an upcoming Zoom presentation with Peter Cavanagh. Are you experiencing travel withdrawal after months of lockdown and cancelled travel plans? Peter  Continue Reading

In the mailbag this morning we have this letter from Janet Thomas… Dear Islanders, The Southern Resident orcas are facing imminent extinction. Unlike other orca species they do not eat other marine mammals. Their primary diet is Chinook salmon–specifically the salmon that comes from the Fraser River in B.C. and migrates along the west side  Continue Reading

This edition of Tide Bites was written by Victoria Foe… I came to FHL in 2000 to study cell division, to take advantage of the sea urchins, sea stars and sand dollars whose huge, glassy-clear, permeable and easy-to-manipulate eggs make them ideal subjects for that work. Local species have eggs that ripen at different times,  Continue Reading

On May 31st we received our first Harbor Seal pup of the season. This is 3-4 weeks earlier than we usually start caring for seals, but this pup came from Ocean Shores on the outer coast of the Olympic Peninsula, where pupping season is earlier than it is around the San Juans. She was seen  Continue Reading

Know Your Islanders: Thane Pratt, Kokoda Sketches: A Birding Trek across Papua New Guinea Lace up your (virtual) hiking boots and join wildlife biologist Thane Pratt and artist Szabolcs Kokay on a trek across the mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea.  We’ll relive some of the adventures and experience the biological wonders of this, the  Continue Reading

FREEZER BURNED: Tales of Interior Alaska is a new regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi… After gritting through another sub-arctic winter, there was celebratory pleasure in first plying the roiling, wood-strewn waters of the Yukon River in spring. The boat season followed seven to ten days of heavy running ice.  Continue Reading