Whale Watch

Success! Nancy and I headed out from Roche Harbor and headed north in search of some members of K pod that had been spotted earlier that day. Whales in K pod are members of the Southern Resident Community, resident killer whales that spend their summers here in the Salish Sea as they hunt the salmon that pass through on their way to spawn upriver.

After a long boat ride (cruising with the current at 18 knts) we encountered the whales just a few miles south of Point...

Captain Brian just reported back from today's whale watch trip this afternoon, and he described it as "one of his Top 3 wildlife encounters- ever!" The boat left Roche Harbor and headed out in search of the transient Orcas that were in the area. Upon arriving they saw harbor porpoises "everywhere" and Brian and Kendall were on the alert and watching the hunting transient whales. Suddenly both transients dived down and disappeared. Everyone was scanning the waters...

Whale watch boats spotted J pod on the west side this afternoon. There was lots of activity from the large group of spread out killer whales, and sunny skies to boot. Folks on land and sea were lucky today, as from Lime Kiln State Park the whales could be seen off in the distance!

What a great day!

Captain Nancy and Kevin headed out of Friday Harbor today with a full boat of local middle schoolers. They headed down to Alden Bank, while braving strong winds from the southwest. When they arrived they saw a lot of activity from the whales, including multiple breaches! It was a long trip but the 23 young kids enjoyed the effort.

Minke Whales breach for whale watch tour

Captain Pete and Kendall headed out on a whale watch tour on Thursday and were surprised and pleased to see Minke whales. These large animals are not often very active and showy on the surface, so the crew, along with all the passengers were excited to see the Minkes breach up out of the water!

The most recent whale watching trip reported back seeing a dozen Bald Eagles on Speiden Island. These eagles were soaring, vocalizing, hunting, displaying and even fighting. Naturalist Kevin and Captain Nancy were thrilled to see so many eagles together, and especially so when at one point an adult and a juvenile met in midair, locked talons, and spun downward for a few rotations before releasing each other! This kind of display is always exciting to hear of, and...

Well folks, spring is definitely here! The past few days have been absolutely gorgeous here on San Juan Island. Buds on trees are emerging, flowers are sprouting up, birds are busy building their nests and the wildlife is out in abundance. Something is definitely in the air...

Spring is a fantastic time of year to visit the islands, as we often have the sunshine of the summer without the crowds. This week in particular-- on both our whale watch trips and our sea...

Captain Cal and I headed out of Roche Harbor with a full boat today. No other captains reported any sightings of killer whales (orcas), so we decided to try our luck looking for all sorts of other wildlife (while keeping our fingers crossed for whales of course). And what a day we had!

To start with, it was absolutely gorgeous out-- clear skies and water like glass all the way across to Canada. We motored south to Kelp Reef and glimpsed some dozing Steller Sea...

Down at the Roche Harbor docks the whale watch and sea kayak staff are getting ready for the busy season ahead--painting, sanding, staining and waxing just about everything in sight. We've been taking advantage of the good weather this week to get our 'office' in top shape, and today was no different. Although the To-Do list was mounting I kept getting distracted by the Belted Kingfishers noisily splashing by the banks on the other side.

These blue and white birds...