San Juan Island Adventures

Nestled in close to Pearl Island and just north of Roche Harbor, Posey Island can't help but draw families in for some intertidal zone fun. After paddling out to visit a kelp forest, we came back to Posey Island where the 5 kids and 4 adults had a blast exploring the shoreline. We uncovered crab after crab and popped lots of rock weed. The thrill of turning over rocks to find scuttling crabs was infectious; we all had to do it! We also inspected the underside of a chiton...

Today was an absolutely sensational day on the water. I have never had an encounter with Orcas like my guests and I had today! We  had lunch near Open Bay and quickly got back in our boats in order to position ourselves alongshore in case the whales came our way. Sure enough, as we were in the process of rafting up, an Orca surfaced only several yards away. This Orca surfaced again and again, then our focus shifted to a line of 8-10 whales coming directly at us! Holding...

Today on M/V Sea Hawk we were lucky enough to see both ecotypes of orcas that we have in the Salish Sea. On the morning trip we saw a small group of transients off Stuart Island. The transients are the orcas that prey on marine mammals and typically feed on harbor seals in this area. They were traveling slowly but gave us all a couple close looks and there was a younger calf in the group so that was awesome to see.

On the afternoon trip we got reports of residents heading...

Today the M/V Sea Hawk left Roche Harbor for two trips! We ended up catching up with my personal favorite matriline in the entire southern resident community: the J16s, comprised of Mom, J16 (Slick) and her three offspring, J26 (Mike),  J36 (Alki), and little seven year old J46 (Echo).  We watched them come down from Turn Point on Stewart Island, the most northwesterly part of the continental US. They traveled down at high speeds,  then spread out to forage! We also...

Today was another beautiful day in the San Juans.  We ended seeing orcas on three separate occasions!  We sat and watched the whales for about 15 minutes total.  We also got to see some harbor seals and bald eagles up close as well.  The water was smooth and the winds were calm.  It was a picture perfect paddle.

Kayak Guide Chris, 5-hour Kayak Paddle, San Juan Island Outfitters Whale Watch And Kayak Tours

Today was a close encounter kinda day. The whales decided to be curious of our boat and we got some amazing close looks at a few mature males resident orcas. Besides the close encounters it was an outstanding day on the water! Calm seas, and not a cloud in the sky. Along with whales we saw many harbor seals, bald eagles and harbor porpoise. I really wish everyday was as perfect as today. Postcard perfect!

Naturalist Chelsea
M/V Sea Hawk
San Juan Outfitters

Just got back from an epic kayak tour! We saw whales breaching in the distance as we sat in kelp beds surrounded by harbor seals. The paddle back was blessed with some huge lions mane jellyfish! What a day!

San Juan Outfitters Kayak Guide Owen, 3 hour tour, July 27, 2014

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying an amazing family on a pretty beautiful paddle. This morning we paddled out to the bull kelp forest near Battleship Island, just off of Henry Island. Bull kelp is an important species in the Salish Sea, creating critical habitat for crabs, small fish, and even harbor seals! We enjoyed the antics of a particularly friendly seal dipping and diving through the currents. On our way back into Roche Harbor we stopped on Posey Island the...

Yesterday we left Roche Harbor with reports of a minke whale across Haro Strait.  We headed across Haro Strait into Canada!  We got a few good looks at the Minke Whale and then decided to go around Stewart Island and through John's Pass.  Minke Whales are the smallest of the baleen whales at about 30 feet in length.  We went through John's pass and saw quite a few harbor seals with their pups.  It is pupping seasons for the seal pups so have been seeing quite a few of...

Today on M/V Sea Hawk, guests were able to see Resident Orcas just outside of Mosquito Pass. This group of orcas were first spotted today off of Saturna Island and throughout of the whole day they continued south. During peak season and any time from 10am to 8pm, the orcas have at least one whale watch boat with them. With this being peak season, it is common to see pleasure boats with our beloved orcas as well. There is one vessel in particular that watches the pleasure...