Where to go orca-watching

By M.L. Lyke
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

By land: You don't have to drain your bank account to see orcas. The whales come in quite close to land at San Juan Island's Whale Watch Park, which attracts 140,000 human visitors a year. The park is on the west side of the island just eight miles from the Friday Harbor ferry landing. (Catch the ferry in Anacortes; (800) 843-3779 for schedules.) Bring binoculars. First-come, first-served camping is available a mile away at San Juan County Park.

While you're on land, make sure to visit the Whale Museum at 62 First St. N. in Friday Harbor, a quick walk from the ferry. It's open every day, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and is loaded with information.

By air: Scenic flights over the whale grounds are surprisingly reasonable. We took a 40-minute trip with ProFlite, (360) 378-2415, in a single-prop Cherokee that runs $35/person ($25 each for a group of three). Although planes can't get closer than 1,000 feet, we easily spotted the black-and-white backs of orcas under the gray-green waters below, and were dazzled by accompanying scenery. For the daring and deep-pocketed, Magic Air Tours offers half-hour open-cockpit scenic tours in a 1929 biplane, complete with goggles and leather helmets, for $150 a person, $89 each per pair, (360) 376-2733.

By sea: With the proliferation of whale-watching boats this season, customers will want to ask a few questions: If boats are Coast Guard certified, if they use a sighting network, if there is a naturalist on board, and how long the trip is. The Whale Museum recommends also asking if boat operators are mem-bers of the Whale Watching Operators Association Northwest, a group with stringent self-regulations. For names of boats operating out of the home port, Friday Harbor, call the San Juan Islands tourist information service: (360) 468-3663. Excursions range from $40-$60. Boats also leave out of Orcas Island, Anacortes, Victoria, B.C., and other ports. The Seattle Aquarium books orca tours at 386-4353.

San Juan Excursions, based in Friday Harbor, offers orca whale-watching trips by boat and kayak in the waters of the San Juan Islands. For information, call (800) 809-4253 (800-80-WHALE) or (360) 378-6636. Fax: (360) 378-6652.

Kayak operators are also promoting whale-watching trips this season. Happening on an orca in a tiny kayak can't be guaranteed, but there's abundant wildlife along the way to keep things interesting. And what could be more fun than joining a clump of kayakers noisily splashing water and drumming "Shave and a hair cut" on their bows to keep orcas from surfacing underneath them? Full-day kayak trips run $65 through the Whale Museum, (360) 378-4710. Other kayaking prices vary. Call the San Juan Islands tourist information service at (360) 468-3663 or the Friday Harbor tourist information center at (360) 378-6977.

See also:
• "Stars of the San Juans," a feature story on whale-watching
• Fun facts about orcas