We had such an awesome day on the water. It was an incredible day with lots of first experiences for everyone who was paddling or on the whale watch. Noelle & Britt were on the desk all day and even they were super envious of the guides wildlife encounters!
Captain Nancy and Naturalist Kevin left Roche Harbor this morning on the Sea Hawk and motored down Mosquito Pass. When they got to the southern most point of Henry Island near Kellet Bluff, there were salmon jumping! Kevin said that at any given moment, there were between 20 and 30 salmon jumping into the air. Captain Nancy shut down the engines and our guests looked down to the water and saw hundreds & hundreds of salmon swimming under the Sea Hawk. This was a first for both Kevin & Nancy, who have been on the water for years.
On the afternoon trip, the Sea Hawk was near Battleship Island near the Northwest corner of Henry Island. When we have a huge tide exchange, there is a huge tide rip near Battleship. Today, the tide rip created these huge rolling waves. J28 Polaris & her daughter J46 Star along with J35 Tahlequah (who is J28’s sister!) & her son J47 Looker were surfing the waves! This was ANOTHER first for Kevin & Nancy. Crazy!
Kayak guide Jesse had a really neat experience with a harbor seal. For some reason, there were not a ton of harbor seals like we usually see. Later that day on the afternoon whale watch, Captain Nancy spotted a Stellar Sea Lion in this area, so that most likely explains the “missing” harbor seals. Anyways, Jesse and his guests were paddling on the Westside of Henry Island when they saw a loan harbor seal swimming around. Jesse and his guests were really quiet and paddle just a bit closer. The seal looked at them and then sank down into the eel grass underneath their kayaks. The water was so shallow & clear that Jesse could see that the seal was taking a nap! The little guy opened his eyes, looked at Jesse and then rolled over and went back to sleep. Total cuteness!
Overall, kayak guides Chase, Philip, and KJ saw whales on their kayak trips today. It was a great day on the water :).