orca

The M/V Seahawk set out on a beautiful May morning in Roche Harbor. Heading north we suddenly got a report of transient (marine mammal eating) orcas to the south near Victoria, BC! We are a member company of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, and as members we are all obligated to share sighting information with one another giving us an unprecedented advantage over companies outside of the coalition. We ended up coming upon my absolute favorite Transient male T19B also...

We had more great news yesterday when NOAA reported a new member of L Pod!  NOAA, who has been conducting research on the Southern Resident Orcas located L Pod off of Westport WA.  Westport is located on the Pacific Coast near the Columbia River.  L94 appears to be the mother to young L121.  This is the second calf for L94, Calypso, who had L113 in 2009.  L119, born in 2012, is the last calf that has survived in L Pod.  In the fall of 2014 L120, born to L86, only...

Across all the worlds oceans there are at least 10 ecotypes of orcas, and possibly even more.  An ecotype is a distinct population of animals separated by diets, region, or social factors from the whole species.  Currently there is only one Orcinus Orca, but some argue that is it time to give separate species names to some of these ecotypes. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have what are known as resident orcas.   Resident orcas diverged genetically about 13,000 years...

Today Captain Nancy and I had yet another magical trip on the M/V Seahawk. We left the dock at noon with reports of all three resident killer whale pods to the south. The Southern Resident population consists of 79 individuals spread across three pods (J, K & L) and when all of the pods are together we call that a SUPERPOD! On the way to the southern end of San Juan Island we located a humpback whale. We were the first boat in the whale watching fleet with the whale and...

Today we had a great time with the Southern Resident Killer Whales of J Pod! The M/V Sea Hawk left Roche Harbor and motored out to the north end of Stewart Island where we caught up with the J14's, J16's, J19's and L87 off Turn Point. When we got on seen we watched as J19, Sachi, came full out of the water in a high breach! Guest were all very excited to see such an amazing display of behavior (as was I)! The whales continued to be very active and broke up into different...

Yesterday we had an amazing day on the M/V Seahawk. For our morning trip we had a report of Residents to the north of Roche Harbor in Boundary Pass. I love trips into Boundary Pass, especially on clear days when you can see Mt. Baker in its entirety. We met up with K and J pods right off of the coast of Saturna and South Pender Islands in Canada. Oftentimes our trips cross into Canadian waters, but don't fret... you do not need a passport! We got to watch the Js and Ks...

Today was an absolutely sensational day on the water. I have never had an encounter with Orcas like my guests and I had today! We  had lunch near Open Bay and quickly got back in our boats in order to position ourselves alongshore in case the whales came our way. Sure enough, as we were in the process of rafting up, an Orca surfaced only several yards away. This Orca surfaced again and again, then our focus shifted to a line of 8-10 whales coming directly at us! Holding...

Today the M/V Sea Hawk left Roche Harbor for two trips! We ended up catching up with my personal favorite matriline in the entire southern resident community: the J16s, comprised of Mom, J16 (Slick) and her three offspring, J26 (Mike),  J36 (Alki), and little seven year old J46 (Echo).  We watched them come down from Turn Point on Stewart Island, the most northwesterly part of the continental US. They traveled down at high speeds,  then spread out to forage! We also...

Just got back from an epic kayak tour! We saw whales breaching in the distance as we sat in kelp beds surrounded by harbor seals. The paddle back was blessed with some huge lions mane jellyfish! What a day!

San Juan Outfitters Kayak Guide Owen, 3 hour tour, July 27, 2014

Today's 5-hour kayak trip started out shaky, we were facing some pretty strong winds that ultimately made us alter our course of where we were going to paddle.  I'm sure glad we did change our direction though because we ended up encountering four orcas around Kellet Bluff area.  The big male in the group was putting on quite the show for us as well.  We saw him fully breach three times as well as do a couple cartwheels, all of this occurring only about 100 yards in front...