killer whales

Joe returned to Roche Harbor after a 5 hour orca search tour with his guests. As his paddlers were in great shape they paddled south down San Juan Island before heading west to loop up and around Henry Island. Their 12+ mile paddle brought them into the Haro Strait where they could see our resident killer whales heading south. Although the orcas were in the distance, Joe and his guests were excited to see them.
For San Juan Outfitters today makes the 5th straight...

Captain Nancy and Noelle reported back seeing L pod, of the southern resident killer whales down at False Bay this morning, thus continuing a long streak of whale sightings. This past week we've been fortunate enough to have the orcas at our back door, i.e., on the west side of the island. J, K & L pods have all been passing by through the Haro Strait almost every day now, and often in a "Superpod", which is the term for when all three pods are joined up and...

This morning I paddled out with two couples for a 3 hour sea kayak tour from Roche Harbor. While we paddled down the west side of Henry Island we saw a large number of whale watch boats out in the Haro Strait. As we drew closer we could make out small black dorsal fins surfacing out there, and could even see some of the larger splashes from these southern resident killer whales tail slapping and breaching. As my guests didn't have to rush back to the docks, we...

Yesterday Captain Brian and naturalist Kevin traveled quite a ways to see killer whales. The past few days we've had the whales in our backyards, but for this trip the boat had to catch up with them on their northbound journey. Although it was a long ride, everyone on the boat was pleased to have had the chance to see these magnificent creatures in the wild.

I'm SO pleased to be able to write about my own killer whale sightings today! This past week we've been seeing killer whales on multiple 3 hour, 5 hour and multi-day tours and whale watch trips, but today was the first time I've been the one to spot them!

I paddled out with a lovely family from California, and the seven of us made our way down the west side of Henry Island. As we could see over a dozen boats clustered together out in the Haro Strait, we started to...

Joe was pleased to report back that he spotted whales (for the third time this week!) during his 3 hour sea kayak tour departing from Roche Harbor. Although he and his guests had to contend with a strong running tide and a brisk wind, everyone was delighted to glimpse those large critters.

This past week has been full of fantastic wildlife sightings-- from new seal pups to killer whales just feet away. Between our whale watch tours and our hourly, daily and multi...

Captain Nancy and Kevin certainly had the whale watch of their lives today, and some of our staff were along for the ride.

They headed north to catch up with a large group of resident killer whales from K and L pods. Just as they arrived on scene, the whales began to breach, (thrusting their whole bodies out of the water and coming down with a big splash) and just kept on breaching! Guide Noelle said she stopped counting after 20 or so times, and that was in just...

I paddled out on a 5 hour Orca Search sea kayak tour today, and enjoyed my day with some hearty guests who were able to gamely paddle through some rough breaking waves. We were crossing our fingers that the resident killer whales on the south side of San Juan Island would continue to head north towards us. The whales moved northbound all the way to the lighthouse (Lime Kiln State Park) but then, alas, they turned away and moved out of range.

Although we were...

Success! Nancy and I headed out from Roche Harbor and headed north in search of some members of K pod that had been spotted earlier that day. Whales in K pod are members of the Southern Resident Community, resident killer whales that spend their summers here in the Salish Sea as they hunt the salmon that pass through on their way to spawn upriver.

After a long boat ride (cruising with the current at 18 knts) we encountered the whales just a few miles south of Point...

Today Noelle paddled out on a 3 hour sea kayak tour, and along with the more common bald eagles and harbor seals, she and her guests were also thrilled to sea some killer whales! The slow, northbound moving group of whales were in the Harbor Strait between Henry Island and D'Arcy Island, CA. Granted, they were in the distance, but everyone could see dorsal fins and the spouts created by exhalation. It was a gorgeous, calm sunny day for a paddle, so what a great...