southern resident killer whales

Naturalist Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 11th, 2020 | 12:00pm

It was my personal first trip on M/V Sea Hawk of the season and it definitely did not disappoint! We left Roche Harbor with gray skies, but our happy faces were no reflection of the weather, as everyone was already in good spirits as we traveled southwest through Mosquito Pass. We left the dock with potential whale rumors, which is always humbling on our retired fishing boat. Despite knowing there were potential...

Piper | Saturday, August 31, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 4:00 PM

Today’s evening tour left Roche Harbor with reports Southern Resident killer whales off the west side of San Juan Island, so off Captain Erick and I went with an awesome group of guests! We left through Mosquito Pass and moved into the Haro Strait, the waters of which were incredibly calm today, glassy even!

We motored down to False Bay on the southern half of the island where we spotted our first orcas of the...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 PM | Monday, August 19, 2019

What an incredible afternoon in the Salish Sea! Words can barely describe the experiences that we had, but I will attempt to document it! We left out of the north entrance of Roche Harbor and the sun was shining brightly! We were all excited for the potential of seeing some killer whales. Captain Sarah received word that there were some orcas south of us, so we headed east out of the harbor into Spieden Channel...

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 08/17/19 | 11:00am

What a beautiful day out on the water!

Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor on our vessel, the Sea Hawk! We heard reports of the Southern Resident killer whales down south by False Bay and heading north through the Haro Strait!

Excitedly, we booked it down the strait, boated past Lime Kiln lighthouse and headed towards the whales! It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, and I had the sweetest group of people...

Piper | Thursday, August 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 PM

Today Captain Erick and I were incredibly excited to take a group of people out on the water from Roche Harbor because there were reports of Southern Resident Killer Whales in the area! The SRKWs are a critically endangered ecotype of orca that used to spend their summers splashing around the Salish Sea every day, however in the last few years sightings of these salmon-eating orcas have been very low as they spend...

[Naturalist Erick. D., M/V Seahawk, 7/18/17 2:00PM]

            For the whole summer we have been seeing almost all Transient (Bigg’s) Orcas. Those are the mammal-eating ones, and despite their old common name we see them in the Salish Sea just as much as the Southern Residents we just tend to see them more in the winter and spring when the residents are absent and there is an increase in the marine mammal population including Steller Sea Lions, California Sea Lions...

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...