San Juan Island Adventures

Fall is approaching, but there is still a lot of summer here. Yesterday (Friday) Captain Gabe and I headed south along the west side of San Juan Island to search for the Southern Resident Killer Whales. They often are seen on this west side because their main food source, Chinook Salmon, travel along this coast as they make their way north to large river systems so they can spawn there and complete their life cycles. As we exited Mosquito Pass we saw some splashes and it...

Today we got geared up and headed out on a 5 hour kayaking trip out of Roche Harbor.  We started out by seeing lot's of harbor seals once we paddled to the Haro Strait.  Continuing south we had the opportunity to see a juvenile bald eagle as well as an adult hanging out in a 5 foot wide nest.  Not long after we were surprised by orcas appearing off our right hand side.  We got to spend about 15 minutes with the whales before they swam off and got looks as close as 50...

Most animals have some level of salinity in their blood. For terrestrial animals, maintaining that salt concentration is fairly straightforward - eat and drink water and your kidneys will do the rest. In aquatic environments, however, there is an added challenge. In a marine environment, the salt concentration of the water surrounding an animal is much higher than that of the animal itself, so drinking salt water actually dehydrates marine mammals (think how dehydrating...

Today we took the Seahawk up north to boundary pass, aiming for Patos Island to follow some potential orca reports. J pod was reported moving southwards from Point Roberts this morning, returning from their trip to Canada yesterday where they spend the majority of their day miles up the Strait of Georgia. Killer whales regularly travel 100 miles a day, and based on their movement since last night they may make today a hundred mile day!

When we approached Patos Island a...

Eagles. Especially Bald Eagles, as our national symbol, our very majestic birds. They perch high up with their stoic stares, and gracefully swoop low with astounding speed. In the San Juan Islands, there is one of the largest concentrations of mated pairs of Bald Eagles in the country. The only places that surpass us are located in Alaska! It’s a fun game to play how many tiny white heads you can spot in the green backdrop of the islands as we boat by.

Adult Bald Eagle

Yesterday (Sunday), was another beautiful day out on the water in the San Juan Islands. It’s still summer here, hot and sunny, but there are signs of fall starting in the more northerly regions of the planet. Different birds species that breed and nest in the arctic regions are returning here in preparation for winter. Most notably (maybe just my favorites) are the phalaropes. These groups of birds are a little smaller than doves and hang around drifting mats of logs and...

Today we took the Seahawk out for another beautiful cruise through the San Juan Islands. We left Roche Harbor to head towards Sentinel Rock, a popular seal haul-out location. Harbor seals are about 5 or 6 feet long and weight around 300 pounds, most of which is blubber. Even though they're covered in this generous layer of fat, they still get chilly in our frigid, 47 degree Fahrenheit waters, so they often scoot themselves up on rocky islands and shorelines to bask in our...

Here in the San Juan Islands we are constantly surrounded by beautiful marine wildlife. Our waters are home to a wide diversity of marine mammals including four species of whales, two species of dolphins, two species of porpoises, two species of seals, two species of sea lions, and we also have the possibility of seeing two species of otters! With such a great array of species, we sometimes come across injured or dead wildlife on our tours or while wandering the islands...

A member of J pod spyhops in Haro Strait

Today on M/V Sea Hawk was amazing. We caught up with some whales earlier than expected, just off of Turn Point. It was J2 Granny! Although there were no other whales in our immediate vicinity, there were some a few miles away, and thats nothing when you can communicate like an orca can (via sound that travels 8-10 miles). Everyone on the boat, and everyone on shore watched in awe as the oldest known killer whale in the world...

Today's wildlife tour took the Seahawk on a cruise around some of the most beautiful and eccentric islands in the San Juans. We ducked out of Roche Harbor through Mosquito Pass where double created and pelagic cormorants were drying their wings off on the buoys marking private docks. Once we moved into Haro Strait we picked up a little bit of a breeze and a light chop until we put the wind behind us and headed north. We spotted a bald eagle soaring past the west side of...