transient orca

Olivia | September 1st, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00pm

It is always wonderful leaving the dock with reports of whales in the area. We had potential Minke, Humpback, Gray, and Killer Whales today, but with their far distance apart from one another, Captain Sarah decided to go see something black and white swimming around. That being said, we left Roche Harbor, took a turn around Henry Island, and headed southwest across Haro Strait towards D’Arcy Island.

The Haro Strait was...

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk| 05/26/19 | 12:00

What a great day out on the water! Captain Erick and I took the Sea Hawk out of Roche Harbor and headed north through the channel towards Spieden Island.

We went past the western tip of the island and up towards Johns Island. It was such a gorgeous view as we went through John's pass and enjoyed the shimmering water against the shoreline. Peering through the trees we were able to spot a Native American longhouse hidden in the...

[Sunday, 6/17/18 - M/V Seahawk - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

This Sunday we had a lovely time taking a great group of folks out aboard M/V Seahawk to search for some marine wildlife in the Salish Sea. Captain Brian and myself left Roche Harbor and wound our way through Mosquito Pass until we exited into Haro Strait. We started south along the western shore of San Juan Island. We cruised by the big cliffs on the northern part of the shoreline and once we reached Lime Kiln...

[Saturday, 5/26/18 - M/V Seahawk - 3:00PM - Naturalist Erick]

This Memorial Day Weekend we got a little taste of summer. The sun was out it was a little bit warm for May and we have a lot of trips going out. On Saturday afternoon Captain Pete and I took Seahawk out with a great group of folks to go on another search of the Salish Sea for some interesting creatures. We first crossed Spieden Channel and scurried through the skinny Johns Pass and took looks out into...

[8/31/17 M/V Sea Hawk and Kittiwake 4pm Charter]

We welcomed a wedding party charter onboard the Sea Hawk and Kittiwake today in a buddy-boat style whale watch around the Salish Sea. Our two vessels departed Roche Harbor with high spirits and perfect weather, and a positive whale report to boot! We aimed south towards Cattle Pass in the hopes of intercepting a group of five transient killer whales reported to be heading our way not long ago.

When we reached the T60 family...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Seahawk, 8/29/17, 2:00PM]

            The other day Captain Joe and I took a small lovely group aboard the M/V Seahawk. We went far but we got to a group of Transient Orcas swimming south in Rosario Strait. Today was pretty interesting because there were three different Transient Orca groups that had traveled almost the same exact route just at different times throughout the day. We saw one of the three groups just south of Lydia Reef in...

[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...

[8/15/2017 2pm Sea Hawk Naturalist Sarah C.]

Orcas will often stalk shorelines when they travel, in search of their next meal - usually a harbor seal hunting along that same shoreline. It's not every day, though, that we see orcas right up against a shoreline also occupied by dozens of campers!

We departed from Roche Harbor on our daily Sea Hawk departure in search of whales. Today, our reports indicated transient killer whales near Vancouver Island, almost due west of...

[8/14/17- M/V Sea Hawk- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM]

M/V Sea Hawk meandered out of Roche Harbor on San Juan Island in search of whales and other cool wildlife, and we had the best of days!

The smoke has finally cleared out from the San Juan Islands, giving us a beautiful view of the islands and the surrounding mountain ranges as we cruised through perfect waters. We passed numerous sea birds, including a bait-ball filled with Glaucous gulls, Rhinocerous auklets, Common...