bald eagle

Today Captain Jim and Naturalist Mike boarded the M/V/ Sea Hawk with a boat full of happy people: some celebrating a wedding, some on a honeymoon and some celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary! We love going out with happy people, and they were about to become much happier as we broke the news to them that we had reports of J Pod, part of the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, heading our way!

We left the dock heading North out of Roche Harbor and didn't spend...

Today we left Roche Harbor at noon with a nice breeze and overcast day which is great for viewing wildlife because there is no glare from the sun on the water.  We headed out Mosquito pass towards reports of whales around American Camp.  On our way out to Haro Strait we saw an adult bald eagle in flight.  We traveled down the West Side of San Juan Island past Lime Kiln State Park.  Thankfully the whales were moving North so we met with them at False Bay.  We first spotted...

With guests aboard and the sun on our backs, we were feeling lucky just being out on the water.   To make the day even better, a call came in that there were transient orcas on the west side of San Juan  Island!  We motored around the north end of San Juan and caught up with two of the members of the T137s near Lime Kiln State Park  We followed the pair north to Henry Island where they made a kill, which was likely a harbor seal.  After the commotion of the hunt, the...

Yesterday we left Roche harbor for a 3:00 whale watch with the anticipation of a great day ahead of us.  We headed out towards Haro Strait and followed the reports of a large group of whales at around Turn Point.  We got a little North of Turn Point and saw a huge group traveling North through Boundary Pass.  The large group that we were seeing consisted of all of K pod and a portion of L pod as well.  Captain Chris and I estimated about 25-30 whales in the area.  They...

Another blue sky day here in Roche Harbor.  Today on our paddle we saw plenty of harbor seals, eagles, and even some harbor porpoise! We also found a lot of sea glass during our lunch break!

Kayak Guide Chris, 5 hour kayak tour, San Juan Island Outfitters Whale Watch and Kayak Tours

You stay classy Roche Harbor

Yesterday we had an amazing day on the M/V Seahawk. For our morning trip we had a report of Residents to the north of Roche Harbor in Boundary Pass. I love trips into Boundary Pass, especially on clear days when you can see Mt. Baker in its entirety. We met up with K and J pods right off of the coast of Saturna and South Pender Islands in Canada. Oftentimes our trips cross into Canadian waters, but don't fret... you do not need a passport! We got to watch the Js and Ks...

Today was one of those real special paddles.  We started our 5-hour trip heading north and viewing a pair of bald eagles and getting some up close looks at some harbor seals.  We continued our paddle by heading south down the west side of Henry Island.  As we continued heading south I noticed many boats in the same area gradually coming closer and closer.   By the time we made to a place called Kellet Bluff the whales were right behind us.  Jackpot.  We found a nice...

Today was another beautiful day in the San Juans.  We ended seeing orcas on three separate occasions!  We sat and watched the whales for about 15 minutes total.  We also got to see some harbor seals and bald eagles up close as well.  The water was smooth and the winds were calm.  It was a picture perfect paddle.

Kayak Guide Chris, 5-hour Kayak Paddle, San Juan Island Outfitters Whale Watch And Kayak Tours

We spent three days paddling with a great group of eleven people and what an exciting three days it was! Our trip began in Friday Harbor where we shoved off in pursuit of Jones Island. The paddle provided us with some stunning views of Mt. Baker, a delicious lunch at Point Caution and much sunshine. There were bald eagles, harbor seals and jellyfish about for our viewing pleasure. After setting up camp we played an intense game of ultimate frisbee, packed our hungry...

Today's 5-hour kayak trip started out shaky, we were facing some pretty strong winds that ultimately made us alter our course of where we were going to paddle.  I'm sure glad we did change our direction though because we ended up encountering four orcas around Kellet Bluff area.  The big male in the group was putting on quite the show for us as well.  We saw him fully breach three times as well as do a couple cartwheels, all of this occurring only about 100 yards in front...