san juan island

Naturalist Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 11th, 2020 | 12:00pm

It was my personal first trip on M/V Sea Hawk of the season and it definitely did not disappoint! We left Roche Harbor with gray skies, but our happy faces were no reflection of the weather, as everyone was already in good spirits as we traveled southwest through Mosquito Pass. We left the dock with potential whale rumors, which is always humbling on our retired fishing boat. Despite knowing there were potential...

Laura | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/10/2020 | 12:00pm

The weather was sunny and gorgeous today as we left Roche Harbor on M/V Sea Hawk!  Captain Sarah steered our boat through Mosquito Pass and we headed quickly down the west side of San Juan Island as there were reports of J Pod in the area!  Passengers were thrilled to hear that they may have the opportunity to see this particular family of orcas, since there are only 22 members left in all!  J Pod members are Southern Resident...

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 2/29/2020 |12:00pm

This is the first blog of the season and what a wonderful Leap Year!  We were so excited to announce J Pod was in the area this morning!  Calls of Southern Resident killer whales were heard on the Lime Kiln hydrophone and excited pedestrians caught glimpses of the pod by the County Park! M/V Sea Lion, Captain Pete and I were so exuberant to leave the dock and head out to the Salish Sea!  With a full boat of passengers sporting...

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 08/24/19 | 2:00pm

Today was unbelievable!

Captain Erick and I boated out of Roche Harbor and west towards Henry Island. It only took a few minutes before we started seeing whale watching boats along the coastline. We found orca whales!

We were able to identify the pod as the T36As! This pod consists of a young mother, T36A (born in 1990), and her 3 young children, T36A1, T36A2, T36A3. They travelled closely to shore looking for food and battling...

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 08/17/19 | 11:00am

What a beautiful day out on the water!

Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor on our vessel, the Sea Hawk! We heard reports of the Southern Resident killer whales down south by False Bay and heading north through the Haro Strait!

Excitedly, we booked it down the strait, boated past Lime Kiln lighthouse and headed towards the whales! It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, and I had the sweetest group of people...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 8/13/2019 | 2:00pm

M/V Sea Hawk traveled all the way past Alden Bank and into the Straight of Georgia today!  We had beautiful seas and bright sunny skies along the way.  It was one of my favorite days for whale spotting today.  We had reports of a humpback whale in the area taking long dives but without other vessels to rely on, it was up to the crew aboard Sea Hawk to put their whale finding skills to use!

Captain Sarah turned off our engines...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 8/11/2019 | 2:00pm

We had a “killer” day out on the water!  M/V Sea Hawk headed out of Roche harbor with full steam ahead!  The radio was in constant use by boaters voyaging through the Salish Sea, announcing a Bigg’s killer whale sighting just past Stewart Island!  As we made our way north, we heard that there was a lone Bigg’s killer whale also traveling northbound.

Our vessel approached Moresby Island and we were greeted with a tall male...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/31/21019 | 2:00pm

Today was an outstanding trip out of Roche Harbor!  M/V Sea Hawk carried passengers for only a few minutes before we had our first whale sighting!  We were so excited to hear reports that there was a humpback whale right outside the harbor!  Captain Sarah heard the news from a research vessel manned by The University of Washington and U.C Davis, studying whale scat!

As we approached the scene we all lifted our binos to see...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Hawk | 7/27/2019 | 2:00pm

We had such a wonderful time aboard M/V Sea Hawk today!  Our vessel was filled with family fun including beautiful seas and interesting wildlife!  Junior naturalist, Conrad, was thrilled to be out on the water and maintained solid enthusiasm for all wildlife seen throughout the trip!  Our vessel headed north and we saw so many cool pelagic bird species along the way, including rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemonts, double...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 PM | Friday, July 26, 2019

It was a true wildlife adventure aboard Sea Hawk this afternoon. We began our trip heading south out of Roche Harbor, but quickly decided that the weather would suit us better if we headed north. We found ourselves across the U.S./Canadian border, headed towards a wildlife refuge known as Mandarte Rock. This wildlife refuge is not only important for seals and other pinnipeds, but for a large array of birds...