San Juan Island Adventures

Today I set up my kayak tour just like any other. We got geared up, talked a bit about safety and paddling, then got in the boat and hit the water.

As soon as we began paddling through Roche Harbor, however, I knew that this was going to be a great trip. We began to encounter cormorants and could see right through the crystal clear water to the bottom on the shores of San Juan and then Pearl Island.

Making our way out into Spieden Channel, we had great views of Vancouver...

Today was an astounding adventure on the ol' Seahawk that nobody could have expected.

Captain Brian and I had the boat ready for some very enthusiastic and excited passengers who were carrying a boatload of luck as far as viewing wildlife goes.

After we got loaded up we headed South out of Roche Harbor down Mosquito Pass. Just as we were talking about the abundant harbor seal population we putted past a rock that was coated with the very nonchalant pinnipeds.

Reaching the...

Today the ol' Hawk had yet another whaley good adventure crewed by Captain Gabe and myself!
Love was in the air as we left the dock in Roche Harbor with an excited wedding party on board to head out and find some wildlife. Using celebratory luck to find marine mammals hasn't failed us yet, and today was no exception.

Minutes after leaving the harbor we had our first bit of excitement: a Humpback whale right in Spieden channel! We are seeing more and more of these thirty...

My blogs usually take place from the platform of our whale watching vessel, the M/V Seahawk. Today, however, history was made: My guests and I "got whaled" from kayaks!

Taking people kayaking compared to cruising on the whale watch boat is a completely different perspective. We are lower to the water, propelling ourselves along our path using nearly silent paddle strokes as opposed to the noisy diesel engine, typically in much smaller and intimate groups, and we are much...

Today Captain Pete and I were slightly less than enthusiastic about the heavy rain in and around Roche Harbor, but more than willing to brave the weather in search of awesome wildlife.

Luckily for us, our passengers also had adventurous attitudes and were not afraid of a little rain! We had heard about some whale activity waaaaaay down south at Salmon Bank, near the South end of San Juan Island, so we set off on our wet journey. Welcome to September!

As we made our way...

On Friday you could feel the the coolness of September creeping up on the end of August, and Capt. Jim and I were heading north to meet up with our wonderful Southern Resident Killer Whales, and little did we know that it would be one of the best whale watching trips...ever. The orcas seemed to be moving quicker than we expected since we saw them just past Battleship Island soon after we left Roche Harbor.

It was some members of J pod. We saw two of the big males in the...

Today Captain Jim and I went on one of the longest journeys that the Hawk has been on this season! It was worth it to have such a great experience on the salty Captain's last day of the season.

Despite the wet weather earlier in the day our passengers were excited and ready to see some wildlife, and so were we! We left the dock under sunny skies and headed South through Mosquito Pass. As we cruised through the windy (and windy!) Pass, we checked out a great blue heron and...

Today Captain Pete and I loaded up the Seahawk with passengers from Texas, Seattle, Colorado, and even France, and left the Roche Harbor dock in search of wildlife. We had heard that there were whales wayyyyyy down south near Heind Bank at the confluence of the Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca so we went South through the ever twisty Mosquito Pass.

As we began to motor down the West coast of San Juan Island, Pete and I were discussing that the tide was on its...

Yesterday Capt. Gave and I did not have very far to go. The breeze was cool and the sun, hot. We headed north to search for our illustrious friends, the southern residents. You know the ones with funny accents, wave at everybody, and drink a lot of sweet tea, you know those folks. Not really these southern residents only eat fish. And we first spotted them right north of Battleship Island outside of Roche Harbor! Sooo close right!?! It was a family of L pod! Which is...

Captain Jim and I left Roche Harbor with reports of whales South off San Juan Island. The Seahawk slipped out Mosquito Pass and into the Haro and we were off into a beautiful day on the water. By the time we hit False Bay we'd caught up to a group of Resident Killer Whales milling a mile offshore.

Some groups of Residents we see on a regular basis as Naturalists, and some we don't see all that often. Myself, I have less experience with L Pod and find it a run challenge...