Memorial Day weekend has brought Transient Killer whales (an obvious highlight), but the smaller animals are what caught the eye of travelers before we even left Roche Harbor to explore and look for wildlife. Near the docks were crabs scuttling on the sandy bottoms, jellyfish floating amongst the kelp, an Ochre star fish, and a mysterious new alien creature- a Tube-snout fish.

A Tube-snout fish is a long, skinny fish that stays close to the water’s surface in small...

Despite intense yearning and best efforts, guests and crew aboard the M/V Sea Hawk were reminded that one can flip only so many whale tails before you’re certain to get a deadhead.  After a lucky run of tours over the past week, which included multiple whale species, the laws of statistics came bear, resulting in not one sighting of a cetacean today.

No matter, our guests could still be heard chattering and laughing from the Canadian shoreline as we plied the...

A Guide to Wildlife in the San Juan Islands

Did you know the San Juan Islands are home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the entire world? It’s true!

Every time we set out on a whale watching tour by boat, our number one goal is to see whales. Most days we do, but we also see a huge variety of other wildlife, including animals many of our guests have never seen up close before! Our kayak tours encounter a variety of diverse wildlife, and sometimes whales, too!

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Last night around 11:00 PM, snow began falling on the quiet community of San Juan Island. It gently snowed all through the night, and produced this magical snowy island scene. It's not often the Friday Harbor receives snow; the Pacific Ocean regulates our temperate climate. It's a rare event for San Juan Island to get any measurable snow!

Snow on San Juan Island

December 9, 2016

Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox! And even though this signals the true end to summer, this doesn’t mean that all the whales leave as all the humans have started to do. Whales actually travel through these waters all year round! Yesterday, though, still felt a little bit like summer. Captain Brian, myself and some wonderful guests took the M/V Seahawk south to search for the Southern Resident Orcas. They have been in the inland waters the past few days foraging for salmon...

J16 Slick surfacing

  This afternoon, Captain Gabe and I set off from Roche Harbor with arguably the best dressed guests we've ever had on board. They had just had a wedding! Normally, I would have advised the ladies to change clothes before getting on the boat--just because the wind can be chilly. But this group came fully prepared, with carefully picked out and coordinated sweaters to go with the dresses, and blankets for all. Luckily though, we were having perfect...

Spyhopping Southern Resident Killer Whale off of Henry Island, WA

Sunday mornings, especially on holiday weekends, are my favorite times to be at Roche Harbor. The excitement in the air is palpable, usually the sun is shining in a bright blue sky, and we have the chance to welcome and host a group of very enthusiastic people.

This Labor Day weekend was no different. On our 11am departure we had a group of our Southern Resident Killer Whales reported off the Westside of...

Today, Captain Gabe and I took a super enthusiastic group out on the M/V Seahawk! We headed south along the west side of San Juan Island to look for the Southern Resident Killer Whales. These are the salmon eating ones that live in the north pacific and usually spend much of the summer inside the Salish Sea since salmon have to make their way through to find the rivers that they were born in. This year is a historically low salmon year so we have not seen the residents...