San Juan Island Adventures

Today Captain Jim and Naturalist Mike boarded the M/V/ Sea Hawk with a boat full of happy people: some celebrating a wedding, some on a honeymoon and some celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary! We love going out with happy people, and they were about to become much happier as we broke the news to them that we had reports of J Pod, part of the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, heading our way!

We left the dock heading North out of Roche Harbor and didn't spend...

Today the Sea Hawk left the dock with great news! Captain Jim had reports of both a Humpback whale and some transient killer whales in the San Juan Island region. Our passengers were excited to see some wildlife so we headed Southeast into Haro Strait where we got some fantastic looks at "Big Mama," a whale that has been spending time in the Salish Sea over the past few weeks. When Humpbacks initiate a deep dive (known as a "sounding") they typically raise their tail, or...

Today we left Roche Harbor with no whale reports in the area.  We traveled up through John's Pass in route to Boundary Pass in hopes of coming across some whales.  During our search we came across a few bald eagle pairs in flight as well as some harbor seals and harbor porpoise.  We received a report of two humpback whales, and mother and calf pair, a few miles north of Waldron Island.  We changed course and headed in that direction.  We got to see some great looks at the...

The M/V Seahawk set out on a beautiful May morning in Roche Harbor. Heading north we suddenly got a report of transient (marine mammal eating) orcas to the south near Victoria, BC! We are a member company of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, and as members we are all obligated to share sighting information with one another giving us an unprecedented advantage over companies outside of the coalition. We ended up coming upon my absolute favorite Transient male T19B also...

Today we left Roche harbor with a recent report of transients down towards salmon bank.  We headed out Mosquito Pass and headed South on the West side of San Juan Island.  Thankfully the transients were moving in our direction so we met them around False Bay.  We watched a large group of transients with a large male and 3 young juveniles including what looked to be like a very young calf.  The whales were heading North up the West side of San Juan Island at a very slow...

Today we left Roche Harbor at noon with a nice breeze and overcast day which is great for viewing wildlife because there is no glare from the sun on the water.  We headed out Mosquito pass towards reports of whales around American Camp.  On our way out to Haro Strait we saw an adult bald eagle in flight.  We traveled down the West Side of San Juan Island past Lime Kiln State Park.  Thankfully the whales were moving North so we met with them at False Bay.  We first spotted...

I saw the first splash from a quarter mile away; a great backwards leap that sent water twenty feet in the air. Hoping for some repetition I crossed my fingers as we motored closer to the scene, deep in the middle of the Strait of Georgia. We'd finally made it to J Pod.

Many people don't realize why whales breach. Be they Killer Whales or Humpbacks, breach we may not know the meaning of every individual action, but we do know these are social displays meant to send a...

When a Captain decides to take the Sea Lion up North into Boundary Pass and beyond, I'm always hopeful. We left with reports of a Humpback near East Point on Saturna Island, which is what we aimed for leaving the dock. We got to see a lot more.

Meandering up North our guests were treated to Steller Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, and a lot of Harbor Porpoise en-route to where other companies are currently watching the Humpback. When we arrived on scene, we quickly determined...

One of my favorite things about Humpback Whales is that they are far less illusive and hard to track down than Killer Whales. Particularly this time of year the Southern Resident pods are farther afield in search of Salmon but some Transients tend to stay near shore year-round hunting marine mammals. The challenge is finding them, in their small groups, is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Thankfully Humpacks are a little different, 40 ton, 50 plus foot long...

Leaving Friday Harbor with reports of both Transient Killer Whales and Humpback Whales is always a great way to start a trip. Captain Brian took us North on the Sea Lion and we sped through Speiden Channel aimed for Moresby Island and the rest of the Gulf Islands of Canada. Many people don't realize that we in fact cruise into Canadian waters on a regular basis. Animals don't know our borders.

Starting a trip with Humpbacks is never a bad way to go and we had two to...