Roche Harbor whale watch

Naturalist Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 11th, 2020 | 12:00pm

It was my personal first trip on M/V Sea Hawk of the season and it definitely did not disappoint! We left Roche Harbor with gray skies, but our happy faces were no reflection of the weather, as everyone was already in good spirits as we traveled southwest through Mosquito Pass. We left the dock with potential whale rumors, which is always humbling on our retired fishing boat. Despite knowing there were potential...

Laura | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/10/2020 | 12:00pm

The weather was sunny and gorgeous today as we left Roche Harbor on M/V Sea Hawk!  Captain Sarah steered our boat through Mosquito Pass and we headed quickly down the west side of San Juan Island as there were reports of J Pod in the area!  Passengers were thrilled to hear that they may have the opportunity to see this particular family of orcas, since there are only 22 members left in all!  J Pod members are Southern Resident...

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 08/17/19 | 11:00am

What a beautiful day out on the water!

Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor on our vessel, the Sea Hawk! We heard reports of the Southern Resident killer whales down south by False Bay and heading north through the Haro Strait!

Excitedly, we booked it down the strait, boated past Lime Kiln lighthouse and headed towards the whales! It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, and I had the sweetest group of people...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 8/11/2019 | 2:00pm

We had a “killer” day out on the water!  M/V Sea Hawk headed out of Roche harbor with full steam ahead!  The radio was in constant use by boaters voyaging through the Salish Sea, announcing a Bigg’s killer whale sighting just past Stewart Island!  As we made our way north, we heard that there was a lone Bigg’s killer whale also traveling northbound.

Our vessel approached Moresby Island and we were greeted with a tall male...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/31/21019 | 2:00pm

Today was an outstanding trip out of Roche Harbor!  M/V Sea Hawk carried passengers for only a few minutes before we had our first whale sighting!  We were so excited to hear reports that there was a humpback whale right outside the harbor!  Captain Sarah heard the news from a research vessel manned by The University of Washington and U.C Davis, studying whale scat!

As we approached the scene we all lifted our binos to see...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/23/2019 | 2:00pm

M/V Sea Hawk, a retired wooden fishing vessel, made a perfect whale watching platform for today’s wildlife tour!  We had an epic whale watch that had a once in a lifetime wildlife views!  Captain Sarah headed north towards Swanson Channel and we were so excited to see immediate breaching activity once we approached the scene!  The 124As were showing off their impressive acrobatic skills, complete with tail breaching, lob...

Olivia | July 14th, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00pm

Heading out of Roche Harbor today, we stumbled across one of our Harbor Seals right as I was giving the wildlife talk about how to spot them, how perfect is that? The sun was shining, and it stayed awfully warm, especially since we didn’t have to travel far before we saw our first whale siting! Despite never getting too cold, I passed out blankets to all 7 passengers so we could stay nice and cozy the entire trip. We...

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...

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...

[Lauren Fritz, M/V Seahawk, 09/01/2017, 2:00 pm Tour]

Today was another glorious day in Roche Harbor, and for Captain Joe and me, it was made even better by the chance to take our wonderful guests out to the Haro Strait to view some Transient killer whales! The water was as calm as glass, and there was hardly a breeze. It was a perfect day for whale watching. We were delighted to see a few different family pods all traveling together, some with big adult males, several...