whale watching from Roche Harbor

Laura C. | 7/16/2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 12:00pm

It was a beautiful day aboard M/V Sea Hawk today!  The morning started out with exciting whale reports right off Henry Island, right around the corner from Roche Harbor!  As we made our way out to sea, we were pleasantly surprised by a female harbor seal with her pup in tow!  The glass calm water allowed guests to see their whole bodies underneath the water’s surface and they were simply adorable!  The tiny pup seemed to be...

Guests were skeptical as we pulled out of Roche Harbor due to the lack of whale reports; however, Roche Harbor had lots of boat traffic and is relatively tucked away from the radio signal. Therefore, once we pulled out and received whale reports right off of Lopez Island’s ferry dock, I was not surprised but also very relieved. We made our way to the transient killer whale siting and once on scene were able to spend a full hour enjoying traveling with the whales. Because...

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...