transient

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 | 07/20/19 | 2:00pm

What a beautiful day out on the water!

Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor and boated towards Speiden Island to start our journey.

This very special island has herds of exotic sheep and deer still roaming the island! They were imported here in the 70’s and still meander throughout the forests and grassy hills. It’s always very cool when we pass by and see foreign animals in Washington!

We continued up across the San...

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 06/14/19 | 12:00

Today was wonderfully beautiful before we even started our trip! The sun was nice and warm and filled everyone with excitement right away. Starting out of Roche Harbor, Captain Sarah and I took our lovely group of people with us on our vessel, the Sea Hawk, and headed out to open waters.

Determined to find some wildlife, we headed deep into northern waters! We headed up past Spieden Island, past Stuart Island, and crossing into...

Jordan | August 23, 2018 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 trip

Today was lovely as blue skies peaked through the clouds. Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor towards reports of whales up in Canada!

As we reached the west side of Spieden Island we spotted a harbor seal in the water eating a salmon! It was so fun to watch him fling the fish around, trying to tear it apart to eat as seagulls swooped into the area trying to take advantage of free food!

Then we traveled further...

Guests were excited as we departed Roche Harbor and headed straight for Friday Harbor, and straight for the killer whale reports. Once arriving on scene, guests got great looks at the T-49s otherwise known as the transient killer whales. We were lucky enough to see two spy hops and some social behavior!

While sitting right outside of Friday Harbor, guests began wondering about the history of the San Juan Islands (SJI). The islands are over 100 million years old, and can...

Today the Sea Hawk left the dock with great news! Captain Jim had reports of both a Humpback whale and some transient killer whales in the San Juan Island region. Our passengers were excited to see some wildlife so we headed Southeast into Haro Strait where we got some fantastic looks at "Big Mama," a whale that has been spending time in the Salish Sea over the past few weeks. When Humpbacks initiate a deep dive (known as a "sounding") they typically raise their tail, or...

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...

Another fabulous day on San Juan Island! Our Owner and Captain Brian was out on the water today and spotted transient orcas near Henry Island late this morning.  T18 was out with the T19 group hunting in Open Bay and off Battleship Island.  We often see these transient orcas in the summer months as well.  Harbor seals were the main course this morning, a favorite of transient orcas.  Brian observed lots a vocalizations after the hunt was over.  Transients are often...

Both resident (fish eating) and transient (mammal eating) killer whales, also known as orca whales, live in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands. The Salish Sea is home to a huge amount of biodiversity, allowing animals large and small to thrive. There is a lot of research being conducted on the whales, and one way scientists gather information is by recording underwater acoustics using hydrophones. This allows data on whales to be collected even when they...