San Juan Island Adventures

Well folks, spring is definitely here! The past few days have been absolutely gorgeous here on San Juan Island. Buds on trees are emerging, flowers are sprouting up, birds are busy building their nests and the wildlife is out in abundance. Something is definitely in the air...

Spring is a fantastic time of year to visit the islands, as we often have the sunshine of the summer without the crowds. This week in particular-- on both our whale watch trips and our sea...

Today we ventured out under gray skies and undertook a long paddle all the way down the west side of Henry Island. The pelagic cormorants which had begun nesting in the rookery there just a few days ago have disappeared-- without a trace of their presence remaining. Hopefully biologists and naturalists here on the island will share the answer with me, as I'd very much like to know where these birds have gone!

And to one of our chattiest guides, Joe Gardner, we wish...

Roche Harbor was gorgeous today with bright blue skies and that perfect warm spring breeze that marks the beginning of a new season. I paddled out into the sunshine with Yvette and Matt and we were pretty pleased with what we found.

The animals were out in full force today-- we got a close up look at a bald eagle hopping on the rocks nearby, a river otter repeatedly surfaced chewing something tasty and seals popped up all around our kayaks looking at us curiously.

Well what a day! Noelle and Captain Nancy headed out for a whale watch tour yesterday with sunny skies ahead. Transients were in the area, and Noelle was pleased to report back great views of some extremely active orcas. "Transient" means these killer whales (orcas) have a large home range and often pass through the Puget Sound. These whales have been spotted as far south as Monterey Bay, CA where they prey on gray whales resuming their long migration north. When...

Today I paddled out for a 5-hour tour with a lovely couple from Oklahoma. It's always a great feeling to be able to showcase the marine environment to folks who don't often see it. Plus, they loved seeing so many harbor seals up close! We hung out in the kelp beds with a few seals who kept surfacing nearby and checking us out. It's still early in the season, so they're just getting used to kayakers again!

The highlight of the day for me was paddling by the Pelagic...

Captain Cal and I headed out of Roche Harbor with a full boat today. No other captains reported any sightings of killer whales (orcas), so we decided to try our luck looking for all sorts of other wildlife (while keeping our fingers crossed for whales of course). And what a day we had!

To start with, it was absolutely gorgeous out-- clear skies and water like glass all the way across to Canada. We motored south to Kelp Reef and glimpsed some dozing Steller Sea...

Today I paddled out with Peter, Erika and Maren and despite the bright sunny skies, we encountered wind almost every way we turned! It was one of the more challenging days I've paddled lately, but luckily they were up for the adventure. We started by trying to get a closer look at all the birds sheltering around Posey Island, but could only identify a handful before they scattered.

Sprinkled among the more common Buffleheads, Harlequins and Guillemots were some...

San Juan Island sea kayak update:

Today I paddled out with Peter, Erika and Maren and despite the bright sunny skies, we encountered wind almost every way we turned! It was one of the more challenging days I've paddled lately, but luckily they were up for the adventure. We started by trying to get a closer look at all the birds sheltering around Posey Island, but could only identify a handful before they scattered.

Sprinkled among the more common Buffleheads...

We've been sighting a wide variety of marine mammals in our area this week, but none so spectacularly huge as the Steller Sea Lion. The Stellers, also known as the northern sea lion, is a massive pinniped, only smaller than the walrus and elephant seal. With males up to 8-11 feet long and over 2,000 pounds, it's hard to believe they are not at the top of the food chain!

The Stellers come into these waters to looking for all sorts of food-- salmon, rockfish, herring...

Down at the Roche Harbor docks the whale watch and sea kayak staff are getting ready for the busy season ahead--painting, sanding, staining and waxing just about everything in sight. We've been taking advantage of the good weather this week to get our 'office' in top shape, and today was no different. Although the To-Do list was mounting I kept getting distracted by the Belted Kingfishers noisily splashing by the banks on the other side.

These blue and white birds...