The whales really are everywhere! We have confirmed reports of 5 different groups of whales in the Haro Strait today. L Pod is heading east, K Pod south of False Bay, Js near Turn Point (on Stuart Island), unidentified Ts heading into a fog bank, and also whales inbound from Jordon River. That’s a lot of whales! Even as am writing this, we are still getting a barrage of updates on locations. Captain Brian and Naturalist Tiffany on the Sea Hawk were with Ks all morning!
The water is flat calm today with zero wind. This is definitely the perfect day to be out on the water in a kayak. Both the snowcapped Olympic Mountains and the Cascades with Mount Baker were visible on this crystal clear day. On Michael’s morning tour, they saw many bright purple ochre sea stars. The tide was very low, so Michael was able to point out these sea stars, as well as brittle & blood stars, which are both bright orange. There are over 2000 species of sea stars worldwide and the water surrounding the San Juans is home to about 180 of these species. Also, the sea star is considered to be a top predator for the intertidal zone. I bet ya didn’t know that!
We also had, for only the second time this season, a land based wildlife trip! Naturalist Kevin took his guests hiking through Mount Finlayson , American Camp, South Beach (where they saw whales!) and also to the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. As an extra treat, Kevin even bought his guests ice cream.
Check out our Facebook page later this afternoon for updates from our 5-Hour paddle with Jesse and the afternoon whale watch.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/sanjuanoutfitters
-Brittany