orcas

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 was another beautiful day in the San Juans.  We ended seeing orcas on three separate occasions!  We sat and watched the whales for about 15 minutes total.  We also got to see some harbor seals and bald eagles up close as well.  The water was smooth and the winds were calm.  It was a picture perfect paddle.

Kayak Guide Chris, 5-hour Kayak Paddle, San Juan Island Outfitters Whale Watch And Kayak Tours

It was a long journey for M/V Sea Hawk- reports had our resident killer whales all the way at the very southern most point of Victoria. Most captains might be concerned that was too far a trek, but not Captain Chris, he was ready to traverse the channels to get to those whales! All was calm within the Haro Strait for M/V Sea Hawk's passengers and crew, and it looked like it was going to be a rather peaceful jaunt. It wasn't until we reach the Strait of Juan De Fuca that...

Some days you spend all of you time searching for what you want, and other days it comes to you.  Today was the latter.  Leaving from County Park on the west side of San Juan Island, we paddled to Lime Kiln Park where the K-Pod orcas greeted us in a feeding frenzy.  After the show, we paddled north and stopped for lunch on a sunny beach, headed back on the water, and were once again passed by K-Pod who had turned north.  Both times they delighted us with their acrobatics...

This afternoon, M/V Sea Hawk headed north to meet K-Pod. We met up with the group right at Turn Point on Stuart Island. The group that we were watching was traveling close to shore and guests asked how that was possible. Haro Strait is the deepest body of water in the San Juans. At the deepest point, it gets to over 1,300 feet, so there are dramatic drop offs right close to the shore.

Once getting around Turn Point, K-pod had a decision to make, they could turn and head...

M/V Sea Hawk got to experience some curious resident orcas this afternoon. Captain Chris and myself took our guests over to the west side of San Juan Island to encounter J-pod. When we approached the orcas they were porpoising quickly and high out of the water. A lot of the time when we see them doing this, they are picking up speed while traveling.

We watched Granny's group travel past us and then slow down. They started to socialize with one another and it looked as...

Although the day started out grey, the sunshine quickly took over in the San Juan Islands.  Captain Mike lead Naturalist Emily, Naturalist Kevin, and the guests on board the M/V Sea Lion north out of Friday Harbor in the pursuit of orcas.  We started the morning with no orca reports, which is common in the early season, so we went to look in areas that orcas frequent in the San Juans. As we were headed around the north side of Spieden Island two dorsal fins were...

On February 11, 2012, L112 a 3 year old Southern Resident Killer Whale was found stranded on the shores of Long Beach Washington.  L112, more lovingly referred to as Sooke, was the daughter of L86 Surprise!.  After two years of debate and research,  it has been concluded that Sooke died of a massive blunt force trauma to the head and neck.  It was proposed that sonar and explosives  were the cause of death as the Canadian Navy confirmed they were doing testing off...

What started out as a grey San Juan day, turned into an excellent day of sunshine and fun on the water! Naturalist Andrew and Captains Nancy and Chris encountered members Jpod and Lpod today off of the North West coast of San Juan Island. While traveling with the whales whale watch guests saw lots of spy hops and breaching. A young orca in the group was very active and got a lot of air while breaching! The orcas were swimming very close to shore around Kellett Bluff on...

Friday and Saturday the Sea Hawk went out with reports of our resident orcas. Friday Captain Brian and Naturalist Aimee motored out of Roche Harbor and headed south toward False Bay. False Bay is on the west side of San Juan Island. We caught up with a female and a calf swimming. Brian and Aimee identified the calf and J-49 who was born last summer. Newborns are usually six to eight feet and around 400lbs! After seeing those two, two more mother and calf pairs swam by...