San Juan Island Adventures

This is a winter update for those who follow our blog. We've been in and out of the office in December, but we continue blogging about whales, wildlife, and other current events here at San Juan Outfitters on San Juan Island. The first big update is that a super-pod of Killer Whales was spotted yesterday. From what we can tell, this group of killer whales had members of all three of our Southern Resident Pods JK&L. It's not uncommon to see the whales occasionally...

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Tuesday, September 14th:

Emily and I paddled out early Tuesday morning with a large group, and boy was it a gorgeous day. We began in total fog, with visibility less that 200 yards. We paddled along the shore, with the mist lifting every so often and allowing us brief glimpses of the islands surrounding us. With little boat activity, it was the perfect morning to paddle-- so quiet out there! Highlights of the trip came from...

Today's whale watching trip out of Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, was THE most amazing trip in the San Juan Islands that I can remember! Our trip started with limited knowledge of where our resident killer whales were located and it seemed that they might have been out of range for our trip. However, it wasn't long before our luck turned and soon we were getting great looks of J-pod in every direction - and some of them were even breaching!!! This, however, was not the...

San Juan Island wildlife update for Wednesday, July 7th, 2010:

Don and Tim reported back that they saw our Southern Resident Killer Whales on this gorgeous sunny day! For many of their guests it was their first time seeing whales, and a not-necessarily-expected but certainly welcome surprise!

Friday Harbor, San Juan Island sea kayak tour wildlife update for July 4th:

Captain Brian wanted to report that two of our 5 hour sea kayak tours are currently with the Southern Resident Killer Whales (or SRKWs)! Our whale watch tour is also viewing whales on this busy 4th of July. What a great day!!

San Juan Island 5 hour sea kayak tour wildlife update for Sunday, July 4th:

Kayak guide Katy reported back from her 5 hour sea kayak tour today that not only did she see our Southern Resident Killer Whales but she was so surrounded by them that her return was delayed! She and her guests rafted up in some kelp, and had to wait for all the whales to swim away before they could paddle again.

San Juan Outfitters wildife report for Saturday, July 4th:

I paddled out on a 5 hour Whale Sanctuary Tour yesterday, and boy did we see whales! As we paddled down the west side we saw whales from J and K pod all spread out along the Haro Strait. We rafted up in a patch of bull kelp and watched them swim by for a long time. It was gorgeous watching them surface, and we even saw mothers and calves! The highlights were definitely seeing some behaviors like tail slaps...

Yesterday's whale watch trip started out unspectacularly- as we were leaving the dock the sky was overcast, with bits of drizzle here and there and we hadn't heard any news about whales in the area all morning. As a whale watch guest who has paid good money this uncertainty can be disheartening, but I assured all 8 of our passengers that sometimes while we are out we hear reports of whales from other boats and that sometimes we ourselves are the first ones to stumble...

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Tuesday June 8th:

Yesterday I paddled out on our whale sanctuary 5 hour sea kayak tour. We left under blue skies but stiff breezes, and had a gorgeous day on the water. We saw and heard bald eagles, harbor seals, cormorants, black oystercatchers and more! We were down by lime kiln when we received reports that L pod was coming up island from the south, so all our fingers were tightly crossed and we waited in hope, but then the...

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Sunday, June 6th:

Emily paddled out on her first 3 hour sea kayak tour of the season and what a way to start the summer! She saw a red fox on the beach, numerous harbor seals and eagles, lots of shore birds and our Southern Resident Killer Whales! Off the west side of Henry Island and moving north, she and her guests saw a few small groups at a time, from all 3 pods-- the SUPERPOD! J's, K's and L's were present and all slowly...