friday harbor

[7/19/17- Kelsey, Naturalist]

If you ever come to the San Juan Islands (because you know you want to), you should make it a trip during July or August in order to see the bioluminescence. What is bioluminescence, you ask? Bioluminescence is a natural light phenomenon that occurs in fireflies, deep-sea fishes, jellyfish, etc. But, the organisms you would be looking for here are much smaller, and they are in the form of quinoa-sized plankton. The San Juan Islands are...

Spyhopping Southern Resident Killer Whale off of Henry Island, WA

Sunday mornings, especially on holiday weekends, are my favorite times to be at Roche Harbor. The excitement in the air is palpable, usually the sun is shining in a bright blue sky, and we have the chance to welcome and host a group of very enthusiastic people.

This Labor Day weekend was no different. On our 11am departure we had a group of our Southern Resident Killer Whales reported off the Westside of...

Today we got geared up and headed out on a 5 hour kayaking trip out of Roche Harbor.  We started out by seeing lot's of harbor seals once we paddled to the Haro Strait.  Continuing south we had the opportunity to see a juvenile bald eagle as well as an adult hanging out in a 5 foot wide nest.  Not long after we were surprised by orcas appearing off our right hand side.  We got to spend about 15 minutes with the whales before they swam off and got looks as close as 50...

Here in the San Juan Islands we are constantly surrounded by beautiful marine wildlife. Our waters are home to a wide diversity of marine mammals including four species of whales, two species of dolphins, two species of porpoises, two species of seals, two species of sea lions, and we also have the possibility of seeing two species of otters! With such a great array of species, we sometimes come across injured or dead wildlife on our tours or while wandering the islands...

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...

So I Know that I talk a lot about how social orcas are and how they are almost always found in their family groups, but like almost everything else there are exceptions to these rules as well. Yesterday (Wednesday) Captain Gabe and I left with a pretty small group to search for some more Transient Orcas. Just around Friday Harbor we came across a pair of male Transient Orcas! This is a little bit unusual, but definitely sometimes happens, especially in the Transients...

This is me with Bolo, one of my favorite dogs at Lollypop Farm.

I often get asked what I do for fun, and what I do in the winter/off-season from the whales. Different naturalists and staff members do an array of different things. Last summer, while on the island, I spent a lot of time volunteering at and fostering for the Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor. This is a small, but wonderful shelter that does its best with the fundraising that its able to do here...

Yesterday we had yet another amazing day of encounters with some of the magnificent cetaceans that call the Salish Sea home. Captain Mike and I headed out on a bit of a grey afternoon in search of adventure and whales, of course. We had a lovely group of guests on board, and even a few birthdays!

We steered the mighty M/V Sea Lion north towards the Canadian Gulf Islands where we found J Pod, part of our Southern Resident Killer Whale population, traveling south through...

This Saturday was pretty special.  Our crew had the honor of assisting in the memorial service of a long-time island resident. Our guests said their goodbyes on a beautiful sunny day in between the Olympic Mountains and the San Juan Islands. As the current gently pushed us along in between Lopez and San Juan and the service ended we had a hunch that there may be some Transient Orcas traveling in the thick fog bank sliding out of the Strait. Transient Orcas usually travel...

We were again treated to orcas close to San Juan Island. On the warmest day of the year so far and some of the best sunshine we’ve had in a while, we were definitely ready for another foray into the waters of the Salish Sea.

Again we had no reported whales in the area, but as we have seen in the past few days that does not mean that there are no whales around. We changed things up a bit and headed south, enjoying the scenery of the shorelines of both San Juan Island and...