bald eagle

Today I paddled out with Diana, and although rain had been in the forecast, the skies cleared for some sun by the end of the afternoon. It was a beautiful day for a paddle, and we were both glad to meet better weather than expected. We saw a great variety of wildlife today, from Bald Eagles to auklets, and river otters to raccoons. It was really neat to see the critters that came out and down to the low tide line to look for a meal!

As we were feeling pretty good...

Today I paddled out of Roche Harbor for a 5 hour tour with quite an international crew. The first part of the day was quite challenging-- fighting a strong flood through Mosquito Pass before being able to emerge south of Henry Island and ride the flood back north. I was excited about the very low tide today, as often there's a good chance to see all sorts of critters, and today was no exception-- we saw dozens of sea stars, a few river otters, geese and their...

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.

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...

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update:

Lately Blake and I, along with our guests, have been seeing a large number of Bald Eagles out on the west side. Some of these eagles remain here year round, with others migrating seasonally. This month we're seeing the eagles population increase in preparation for the bountiful summer months.

When food is plentiful, you can often see 8 or more individuals crowding around a seal carcass, but other times one adult will eat...