Salish Sea

It’s that time of year again! Fall is beginning to creep up on us, and here in the Salish Sea, we are looking forward to seeing some old friends of ours- migrating birds! We have over 200 species of birds here in the San Juan Islands, and some bird species are here during the summer months specifically for feeding and breeding, such as the Rhinoceros auklets, Rufous hummingbirds, Brown-headed cowbirds, Violet-green swallows, White-crowned sparrows, and others. Some...

Have you ever heard of the Marbled Murrelet? No? Well sit back and enjoy this quick little read about one of the endangered species native to the Salish Sea and Pacific Northwest!

The Marbled Murrelet is an endangered species of seabird. It is related to the puffin, and it has a stocky, pudgy body about 10 inches long. It has a short pointy beak with a short pointy tail to match. It’s a diving bird, propelling itself with its wings by “flying” into the sea depths to catch...

[08/21/17- M/V Sea Hawk- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM]

 Happy Eclipse Day! The day felt like a holiday with people taking time from their daily activities to take a step outside and view nature doin’ its thing. We took it a step further and spent not just the morning viewing the eclipse, we also spent our afternoon watchin’ some whales!

We headed out of Roche Harbor from San Juan Island and headed just slightly northwest, and just a few minutes into the trip, we were with...

[8/9/17- M/V Sea Hawk- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM]

In recent days, we have not been seeing orcas, because they were just out finding food elsewhere! But today, our luck changed and we saw some transient (mammal-hunting) orcas, just southwest of San Juan Island!

M/V Sea Hawk had quite the trip in store as we moseyed out of Roche Harbor towards Victoria, BC. We finally reached some orcas, and they were soon identified as the T18 family group. This cozy little family of four...

[7/19/17- Kelsey, Naturalist]

If you ever come to the San Juan Islands (because you know you want to), you should make it a trip during July or August in order to see the bioluminescence. What is bioluminescence, you ask? Bioluminescence is a natural light phenomenon that occurs in fireflies, deep-sea fishes, jellyfish, etc. But, the organisms you would be looking for here are much smaller, and they are in the form of quinoa-sized plankton. The San Juan Islands are...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Seahawk, 7/16/17, 2:00PM]

Captain Joe and I left from Roche Harbor yesterday with a smaller group to go search for some super wildlife and whales. We took an interisland route. This means for most of the voyage we stayed in the smaller passes and in the midst of most of the islands instead of traveling in the larger bodies of water that surround them. If you look at a map of the San Juan Islands, they are surrounded by four larger bodies of...

It’s always a special day when we get to observe humpback whales in the Salish Sea. Since whalers started targeting our humpback population in their breeding grounds around Hawaii, their numbers have plummeted. Despite the passing of the international ban on whaling in 1982, it took until 2003 for humpbacks to rediscover our waters and begin establishing a population here. Today we have an estimated four dozen adult humpbacks that return to our waters every summer, so...

We all know the basics of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but here are some extra steps you can take to protect the Pacific Northwest’s incredible Salish Sea.  These tips do not just apply to our little corner here in Washington, but also globally.  It is never too late to start making these easy and simple changes to help conserve our natural world.

1. Purchase a Reusable Water Bottle

Not only is this an easy and simple step to help conserve the planet we call home, but it also...

Today Captain Jim and I took off on the ol' Seahawk with a boatload of excited and curious passengers from Kentucky to Alaska, sun in the sky, and wildlife on the brain. As we left Roche Harbor headed North, it didn't take us long to find what we were looking for: ORCAS!!

We caught up with the Southern Resident Killer Whale community just past Battleship rock (a bird sanctuary that was mistaken for an American warship by British troops during the Pig War) and watched...

With sunny skies and a soft breeze we had the perfect recipe for our 3-hour tours today, complete with many sightings of the iconic wildlife of the Salish Sea and San Juan Islands. Harbor seals swam gleefully around our boats, Bald Eagles stood stoic in the tallest of trees and Harbor Porpoises surfaced on the horizon of the Haro Strait as we paddled down the West side of Henry Island. Overall, a lovely and delightful day on the water.

Kayak guide Courtney, 3-hour tour...