dall's porpoise

Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox! And even though this signals the true end to summer, this doesn’t mean that all the whales leave as all the humans have started to do. Whales actually travel through these waters all year round! Yesterday, though, still felt a little bit like summer. Captain Brian, myself and some wonderful guests took the M/V Seahawk south to search for the Southern Resident Orcas. They have been in the inland waters the past few days foraging for salmon...

Yesterday the M/V Sea Lion headed out on the water for a private charter. I love being a part of hosting these private events, as we can totally taylor the trip for whatever the groups are most interested in. Yesterday our group wanted to find as much wildlife as we possibly could, and wildlife we found! We left Friday Harbor and motored north. At Spieden Island we encountered a lively group of Steller's sea lions, and a number of bald eagles. As we headed further north...

Today I set up my kayak tour just like any other. We got geared up, talked a bit about safety and paddling, then got in the boat and hit the water.

As soon as we began paddling through Roche Harbor, however, I knew that this was going to be a great trip. We began to encounter cormorants and could see right through the crystal clear water to the bottom on the shores of San Juan and then Pearl Island.

Making our way out into Spieden Channel, we had great views of Vancouver...

Today was an astounding adventure on the ol' Seahawk that nobody could have expected.

Captain Brian and I had the boat ready for some very enthusiastic and excited passengers who were carrying a boatload of luck as far as viewing wildlife goes.

After we got loaded up we headed South out of Roche Harbor down Mosquito Pass. Just as we were talking about the abundant harbor seal population we putted past a rock that was coated with the very nonchalant pinnipeds.

Reaching the...

When a Captain decides to take the Sea Lion up North into Boundary Pass and beyond, I'm always hopeful. We left with reports of a Humpback near East Point on Saturna Island, which is what we aimed for leaving the dock. We got to see a lot more.

Meandering up North our guests were treated to Steller Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, and a lot of Harbor Porpoise en-route to where other companies are currently watching the Humpback. When we arrived on scene, we quickly determined...

M/V Sea Hawk and guests headed south toward Eagle Point on San Juan Island. Along the way we encountered Dall's Porpoise surfacing and creating rooster tails! This was a big treat for everyone, and for myself because I have not been able to see Dall's Porpoise do this action before. When watching the Dall's, guests were able to see the muscular build of the Dall's, see a the black and white coloring of them, and see a slow surfacing and a rooster tail spray surfacing...

Noelle paddled out with three guests this morning for a 3 hour sea kayak tour, and reported back that there were sunny skies and smooth, glassy waters to greet them out on the west side. Once there they had quite a few wildlife sightings-- from harbor seals to bald eagles-- but what was most exciting was the porpoises that were spotted foraging around just off the western shore of Henry Island. Noelle identified them as Dall's porpoises, making them the first Dall...

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...