Captain Brian and Naturalist Tiffany had an awesome whale watch yesterday. We mentioned it in our blog briefly yesterday, but Tiffany elaborated! The Sea Hawk approached Js and Ks near Kellet Bluff on Henry Island. Tiffany confirmed they got an awesome view of little K44, which is K27’s new calf. There were multiple full body breaches. Often times, one specific whale will breach multiple times in a row. Guests on the Sea Hawk saw a large male breach three times in a row! They stayed with the whales for over an hour!
Guides Nick and Jesse saw whales on their full day trip yesterday. The group paddles down Mosquito Pass first (narrow channel between San Juan and Henry). Just as they were about to paddle into the Open Bay & Kellet Bluff area, two huge whales surprised them and swam into Open Bay! Some researchers theorize that there is an interesting current dynamic that causes salmon to get stuck in Open Bay, which means easy feasting for the whales. The whales took turns going in and out of the bay to forage right in front of our guests! Half-day guide Michael also reported that they saw whales near the northern end of Henry Island. Basically, every guest for both kayaking & whale watching saw whales! How awesome is that!?
The Sea Hawk with Captain Bill & Naturalist Kevin just got back from their morning whale watch. Everyone was so excited that they saw a ton off whales! The Sea Hawk approached the Js and Ks south of the Lime Kiln Lighthouses. The whales were milling, which is considered their foraging behavior. There was lots of breaching & porpoising, and even a full cartwheel! The whale got his whole bottom half out of the water. Tucker the black lab and the whale-poo sniffing boat got a big hello from all our guests! A black lab sniffing whale poo? Yep! Check out their research website: http://conservationbiology.net/
Also, if you haven’t had the chance yet, be sure to check out our Facebook page for an awesome video from our guests on our full-day kayak trip this past Saturday. Guide Emily saw whales and guest Carlos had his video camera rolling and recorded a huge male surfacing about 20 yards from their boats!
As a general note: We LOVE it when our guests send us photos and videos from their adventures with San Juan Outfitters. Thank you for taking the time to do so!