San Juan Island Adventures

Today was a spectacular trip around Henry Island. My guests were blessed with many sightings of multiple types of marine life. Around McCracken Point we saw some Harbor Seals relaxing and sunning in the Bull Kelp. As we continued down the west side of Henry Island I was able to point out the many types of sea-stars nestled in the rocks as well as the huge Bald Eagle nest perched above the water. It was really cool to hear the baby Bald Eaglets squawk about 60 feet above...

Today we had a great trip filled with awesome wildlife and beautiful scenery! Our family tour had a chance to stop on Posey Island, Washington's smallest state park (about an acre large) and do some tidepooling. From rock crabs to limpets, as well as a few oystercatchers who put on a show for us, it made for a great tour! We even had a curious harbor seal approach one of our boats to check us out. Just another great day out on the water!

Kayak Guide Callie, 3 hour...

Roche Harbor was still a buzz with the Fourth of July festivities, and apparently so were the whales. Reports had whales from Turn Point Lighthouse all the way down to Salmon Bank on the Westside of San Juan Island. Quite a large area to scan for whales, but no worries, Captain Chris and myself were on the lookout. The water was nice and calm with only a little bit of fog burning off with the afternoon heat.  It made it perfect conditions to scout for whales. Immediately...

Today we left Roche Harbor and headed out Mosquito Pass to Haro Strait.  It was an absolutely beautiful day on the water.  The lighting was perfect for spotting whales and other wildlife.  Also, the water was about as calm as it can get.  We headed down the West side of San Juan Island and found the whales at False Bay.  There were so many whales in all different directions that all we needed to do was turn off our engines and enjoy the beautiful day.  We saw breaching...

Today was sweet! It literally only took us 10 minutes to be on scene with whales. It was awesome, and had to be a record encounter. And even better it was a super pod! All 3 resident pods were in the area, that gave us a chance to see 80 whales. They were pretty active as well with many surfacings, spy hops, and breaches.

We also did a tour around some other San Juan Islands; Stuart, John, Cactus, and Spieden and saw countless bald eagles and harbor seals. Overall it was...

M/V Sea Hawk got to experience some curious resident orcas this afternoon. Captain Chris and myself took our guests over to the west side of San Juan Island to encounter J-pod. When we approached the orcas they were porpoising quickly and high out of the water. A lot of the time when we see them doing this, they are picking up speed while traveling.

We watched Granny's group travel past us and then slow down. They started to socialize with one another and it looked as...

Today was an one of those rare days where everything lined up perfectly! The weather was phenomenal, without a cloud in the sky, and the water was as calm as I have ever seen it in the Haro Strait. To add on to this perfect day on the water we also had....you guessed it, whales! Both J and L pod of our resident whales, or fish-eating whales, were out on the westside of San Juan Island. It looked to be a great show for both viewers on vessels, kayaks, and also land-based...

We left Roche Harbor today with no confirmed whale sightings in the area.  We decided to head down Mosquito Pass and go down the West side of San Juan in hopes of spotting some whales since that is an area they have been commonly seen.  In route we saw quite a few bald eagles in flight as well as some harbor porpoises in Haro Strait.  We got down to around Eagle Point and sighted a large portion of the resident L-pod.  They were approximately 15 individuals traveling very...

Today when we left Roche Harbor it was raining and foggy.  We exited Roche by way of Mosquito Pass and entered into Haro Strait.  We headed south down San Juan Island and the sun then decided to come out right as we came across some whales! We came upon J2 (Granny) who was headed North up towards Boundary Pass.  It is pretty common to see Granny leading the group during travel period.  Granny is the matriarch of J pod, which means she is the oldest female in the group and...

M/V Sea Hawk was able to enjoy Resident Orcas on both trips today. With our departure at 11AM, we met up with them around Eagle Point.  The orcas were spread out, but several larger groups of four or five. It appeared that the orcas were fishing. Resident orcas are fish eating only mammals and they specifically want Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon make up about 80-90% of the orca's diet. On average, adult male orca needs about 400 pounds of salmon per day!

Eagle point is a...