san juan island

It was a long journey for M/V Sea Hawk- reports had our resident killer whales all the way at the very southern most point of Victoria. Most captains might be concerned that was too far a trek, but not Captain Chris, he was ready to traverse the channels to get to those whales! All was calm within the Haro Strait for M/V Sea Hawk's passengers and crew, and it looked like it was going to be a rather peaceful jaunt. It wasn't until we reach the Strait of Juan De Fuca that...

The sun breaking through on a mostly overcast sky gave us the perfect temperature to kayak a great distance. We moved south through Mosquito pass, pausing for a moment through Garrison Bay and English camp, and eventually reached our lunch destination at Open Bay. It was a great paddle and although worn out a bit, everyone was in high spirits.

Kayak Guide Josh, 5-hr kayak tour, San Juan Island Outfitters Whale Watching & Kayak Tours

Our five hour trip took a dive into Wescott and Garrison Bay, where we ventured between darkly shaded alcoves and underneath barnacle ridden docks. Mother and baby seals played around us and cormorants perched to watch us, their wings drying in the strong winds blowing off the Haro Strait. We ate lunch under a pear tree at English Camp, then walked off our meals examining the Madrona and Iron Wood that surround Garrison Bay.  The sun showed itself on our return to Roche...

It was a little foggy as we left Roche harbor this morning at 11am but as we made our way to Stuart Island to where the resident whales of L pod were last spotted, the fog cleared and it was a beautiful day. Before we made it out to the orcas we spotted about 10 pacific white sided dolphins!!!! They are rarely seen in this location and we were so excited to see them! They were moving fast and were creating a large splash of what behind them, something that is known as a...

Captain Jim and myself were aboard M/V Sea Hawk for two trips today! Our first trip departed at 9am and with no reports we headed south. The Sea Hawk was cruising at about 13 knots, the water was like glass, and there were no clouds in the sky! We got to about Eagle Point and still no reports.  Finally, once we were headed toward Discovery Island, we heard of Js and Ks inbound east of Discovery, it ended up being us being a little north of where the Resident orcas were...

We were caught by surprise after a mellow paddle through Mosquito pass to find a large pod of Orcas swimming North just off Henry Island. Foregoing an early lunch,  and bracing ourselves for rough waters, our group pushed forward toward Kellet Bluff, keeping  a generous distance between us and the whales, as well as getting the ultimate panorama view of the traveling Orcas. With our hearts racing, the screams at every whale breach, and the pace we had set for ourselves...

Today was sweet! It literally only took us 10 minutes to be on scene with whales. It was awesome, and had to be a record encounter. And even better it was a super pod! All 3 resident pods were in the area, that gave us a chance to see 80 whales. They were pretty active as well with many surfacings, spy hops, and breaches.

We also did a tour around some other San Juan Islands; Stuart, John, Cactus, and Spieden and saw countless bald eagles and harbor seals. Overall it was...

M/V Sea Hawk got to experience some curious resident orcas this afternoon. Captain Chris and myself took our guests over to the west side of San Juan Island to encounter J-pod. When we approached the orcas they were porpoising quickly and high out of the water. A lot of the time when we see them doing this, they are picking up speed while traveling.

We watched Granny's group travel past us and then slow down. They started to socialize with one another and it looked as...

What an amazing trip we had today! We left our dock today in Friday Harbor without any whale reports once again, so Captain Mike and I decided we were going to head north to see what we could find in that region. We were looking for transient killer whales; this kind of killer whale hunts marine mammals. There is ample food for them north of San Juan Island including harbor seals, harbor porpoise, Steller Sea Lions (the largest in the world), and even Dall's...

With impending rain, Captain Mike steered the M/V Sea Lion north with Naturalists Heather and Emily, and guests in tow.  The goal: transient killer whales off North Pender Island in Canada.  A little Northwest rain did not dampen any spirits on board and before we knew it we were rewarded with great views of 7 transient orcas traveling southeast in Swanson Channel.  T137 and her offspring T137A, T137B, and T137D were traveling with T36A and her two offspring T36A-1...