killer whale

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 2/29/2020 |12:00pm

This is the first blog of the season and what a wonderful Leap Year!  We were so excited to announce J Pod was in the area this morning!  Calls of Southern Resident killer whales were heard on the Lime Kiln hydrophone and excited pedestrians caught glimpses of the pod by the County Park! M/V Sea Lion, Captain Pete and I were so exuberant to leave the dock and head out to the Salish Sea!  With a full boat of passengers sporting...

Erin| M/V Sea Hawk | Saturday, Septemer 7, 2019 | 2:00 PM

What an incredible trip aboard the M/V Sea Hawk today! We headed north out of Roche Harbor in pursuit of a report of killer whales near Waldron Island. We went through Johns Pass, which is a lovely area in between Johns and Stuart islands. We couldn't get over how calm the sea was around us. It was a perfect day to be out on the water. After going through Johns Pass, we found ourselves in Boundary Pass. This is...

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...

M/V Sea Hawk | Sunday, July 21, 2019 | 1:00 PM | Naturalist Erin

It was a beaufitul day aboard the M/V Sea Hawk in the Salish Sea. It was sunny, the water was calm, and there was an abundance of wildlife! We began heading out of Roche Harbor and going across San Juan Channel towards the south side of Spieden Island. On our way there, we saw lots of harbor seals hauled out on some rocks! There were some that were resting and warming up on the rocks, and there were some...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 PM | Friday, July 5, 2019

What a wonderful afternoon in Boundary Pass this 5th of July! We left Roche Harbor and headed north through Johns Pass. Johns Pass is in between Johns and Stuart Island. It is a beautiful pass. After going through the pass, we headed toward Waldron Island, where there were some reports of Bigg's killer whales. On our way to see the whales, we saw lots of harbor seals pop their heads out of the water. Everybody was...

Jordan | September 8, 2018 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 trip

Today was such a great day out on the water! Although the sky was gray and it was slightly drizzly, the day was still full of great excitement! Captain Erick and I headed out of Roche Harbor on the Sea hawk in search for our whales!

We heard reports of wildlife nearby so we headed out of the harbor towards the animals. Almost immediately we found our whales! We found the killer whales within the Spieden Channel near...

Jordan | September 2, 2018 | M/V Sea Hawk | 3:00 trip

Today was a gorgeous day out on the water as the sun dazzled our guests on this fine holiday weekend. Captain Sarah and I were eager to get out of harbor in search of our whales! Luckily, we heard reports of whales coming from the west side of San Juan Island, and, although it’d be quite a long journey, we knew it’d be worth it.

So, we set out of Roche Harbor and headed south along the west side of the island within...

[Sarah M | 08/15/2018 | M/V Seahawk | 02:00pm]

Yesterday the M/V Seahawk had another great trip in the Salish Sea. Even though we are still experiencing smoky conditions, the wildlife sightings have been off the charts amazing and unaffected by the atmospheric conditions.

On our 02:00pm afternoon trip we left Roche Harbor and headed southwest through Mosquito Pass towards Sidney Island. As we reached the south end of Sidney Island, near Hughes Pass we found a family...

Captain & Naturalist Sarah | 06/23/2018 | M/V Seahawk

AHHHHH… Days don’t get much better than this on M/V Seahawk… bright blue skies and whales nearby. Owner/Operator Brian and I decided to leave Roche Harbor and head north to a report of killer whales just off of Waldron Island. As we Rounded Green Point on Spieden Island we quickly realized that the reported group had split up… two famlies heading north towards Boundary Pass, and another heading south through...

[8/15/2017 2pm Sea Hawk Naturalist Sarah C.]

Orcas will often stalk shorelines when they travel, in search of their next meal - usually a harbor seal hunting along that same shoreline. It's not every day, though, that we see orcas right up against a shoreline also occupied by dozens of campers!

We departed from Roche Harbor on our daily Sea Hawk departure in search of whales. Today, our reports indicated transient killer whales near Vancouver Island, almost due west of...