San Juan Island 5 hour sea kayak tour wildlife update for Sunday, July 4th:
Kayak guide Katy reported back from her 5 hour sea kayak tour today that not only did she see our Southern Resident Killer Whales but she was so surrounded by them that her return was delayed! She and her guests rafted up in some kelp, and had to wait for all the whales to swim away before they could paddle again.
San Juan Outfitters wildife report for Saturday, July 4th:
I paddled out on a 5 hour Whale Sanctuary Tour yesterday, and boy did we see whales! As we paddled down the west side we saw whales from J and K pod all spread out along the Haro Strait. We rafted up in a patch of bull kelp and watched them swim by for a long time. It was gorgeous watching them surface, and we even saw mothers and calves! The highlights were definitely seeing some behaviors like tail slaps...
Captain Brian G. and I went out for a private charter this morning, and what a gorgeous morning it was! Some spectacular highlights were watching a peregrine falcon in flight (3 different times!) off Turn Point, watching a school of harbor porpoise race towards an oncoming boat and bow ride (not typical behavior), and getting some amazing views of a large herd of male mouflon sheep. They were off by themselves, and we saw some good examples of aggression between...
The population of the Southern Resident Killer (Orca) Whales is still on the rise! Sunday was the first sighting of brand new calf L114, to first-time mom L77, Matia. This birth brings our current total to 89 whales!
Typically in the winter months the southern resident orca whales disperse and travel much more, so last week's SUPERPOD of all three resident orca pods (J, K, & L) together in the straits was cause for excitement!
Here at San Juan Outfitters we're...
Captain Nancy and naturalist Margo just returned from a very happy whale watch tour. They reported seeing a very spread out group of southern resident orca whales-- specifically, J pod. They saw a few breaches, pedunkle throws (cartwheel-like behaviors) and lots more activity. Margo says she got some great looks at siblings Blackberry (J-27), Mako (J-39) and Tsuchi (J-31)!
The weather is beautiful down here in the harbor, and it was a great trip for all on board...
Today I paddled out of Roche Harbor on a 3 hour tour and we spotted orca (killer) whales! Thanks to our whale watch boat I received the whale report before leaving the harbor, but was not sure if we would be able to see the whales as they were already headed north in the Haro Strait. We paddled out to the kelp forest off Henry Island and as we were eating some seaweed, looking for seals and listening for eagles we saw some killer whales! There were quite a few...
Whales were spotted along the southern and western sides of the island today, and one of our guides Tim reported back that he'd seen 6 or 7 individual orca whales during his 3 hour kayak tour. It's always exciting to see the whales, whether from a kayak or from our whale watching boat, but it isn't always possible during our 3 hour tour, so we're especially pleased that he and his guests were able to see them as well!
Today I paddled out with two friends from Seattle who were excited to see all the wildlife the San Juans have to offer. We were getting some great looks at bald eagles, sea birds and harbor seals and were taking a short break in a forest of bull kelp when the report came in that whales were in the Haro Strait and headed south-- towards us! We watched as whale watch boats moved down the strait and then noticed that a few whales were much closer to shore--to us. At...
Joe returned to Roche Harbor after a 5 hour orca search tour with his guests. As his paddlers were in great shape they paddled south down San Juan Island before heading west to loop up and around Henry Island. Their 12+ mile paddle brought them into the Haro Strait where they could see our resident killer whales heading south. Although the orcas were in the distance, Joe and his guests were excited to see them.
For San Juan Outfitters today makes the 5th straight...
Yesterday Deborah set off on a 5 hour "Orca Search By Kayak" sea kayak tour and boy did they find whales! Deborah reported that the southern resident killer whales were spread out across the Haro Strait, and her group was in the perfect position to see a lot of activity from the whales as they swam past. While normally the protocol (for kayaking when whales are present) is to paddle offshore, yesterday the currents were so strong that it would have been...