haro strait

A member of J pod spyhops in Haro Strait

Today on M/V Sea Hawk was amazing. We caught up with some whales earlier than expected, just off of Turn Point. It was J2 Granny! Although there were no other whales in our immediate vicinity, there were some a few miles away, and thats nothing when you can communicate like an orca can (via sound that travels 8-10 miles). Everyone on the boat, and everyone on shore watched in awe as the oldest known killer whale in the world...

Summer is in full swing in the San Juans! The sun is shining, the residents are back, and flocks of happy vacationers are enjoying our beautiful scenery and wildlife every day. This afternoon we left Roche Harbor to a 70 degree day with calm seas and a good report of resident killer whales just off of Pile Point on the southwest side of San Juan Island. There's no better way to start your Sunday afternoon!

We headed out of Roche Harbor and through Mosquito Pass to get to...

The only way I have come to describe days like yesterday is “San Juan Special.” Those days that I am trying to explain the area to guests and the only thing I feel like I can say, “Do you see how beautiful this is?!”

You could have water skied on the mighty Haro Strait yesterday, and it was difficult to tell where the water ended and the sky began at the horizon. The whole strait felt still and it was a magical day to encounter some wildlife.

The M/V Seahawk left the...

Calf surfaces just behind mother. This is often called eschelon swimming, when the baby is just being pulled in adults slip stream.

This morning, Captain Gabe, our 18 excited guests, and I left the dock with the intention of heading south toward some reported Southern Resident killer whales.

Before we had actually left the harbor, Gabe came down from the helm to let us know that some whales had been spotted up north, moving south. With those being a bit closer, we...

Today is J pod's third day back in the Salish Sea after about a month of absence. We were thrilled the hear that they were making their way to the west side of San Juan Island this morning, just in time for the Seahawk's first trip of the day! We headed out of Roche Harbor through Mosquito Pass and rounded the corner to the west side. Pretty soon we got into view of Lim Kiln Lighthouse, and were greeted by the members of the J16 family group!

We watched Mike as he...

Two young transient orcas breach at the same time right next to each other.

WOW. WOW OH WOW. I'm not even sure how to start describing today's trip. It my hands down my best trip of the season. We cruised out of Roche Harbor and immediately encountered a group of 9 transient killer whales. One adult male (T49C) seemed to be trying to start a party--or something. He was tail slapping non-stop. No one else appeared to want anything to do with it. It actually looked as if...

We started our trip out today with reports of transient killer whales just off the coast of Victoria. Feeling determined and adventurous, we started out south, hoping to spot them as they moved away from Discovery Island. We braved a particularly choppy voyage down Haro Strait before breaking through to glass-calm seas at the junction of Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

As soon as we had spotted some distant dorsal fins cutting through the water, a juvenile...

Transient killer whales exaggeratedly coming out of the water to breath, a behavior we often see when the whales are moving quickly.

Captain Gabe, Captain Jim and I made a quick 15-minute turn around between our first and second trip of the day. We were in a bit of a hurry due to a longer first tour, and we wanted to get out to the west side of the island so that on our second tour, we could spend as much time as possible with the orcas that were spotted there. When...

Transient orca calf for color and size comparison to adults.

This morning, we ventured out of Roche Harbor with a report of orcas across Haro Straight. Great, right? Wrong. Only one boat had tried to get there so far, and they were forced to turn around due to high seas. Haro is a tricky place. On some days it's like glass, and on other days, you would be crazy to try to cross it. Today started off like the latter. In the interest of the guests dry clothes and lack of...

We started out the day departing Roche Harbor with a small group of 3 guests, two from Ireland and one from the Dominican Republic.  It was an awesome opportunity to display the Pacific Northwest and all of it's natural beauty to guests visiting from so far away.  After about 45 minutes of paddling we got out to the Haro Strait where we were instantly greeted by many harbor seals.  Not 10 minutes later I heard some loud breathing and turned to notice a large tan head...