harbor seal

Today was another perfect day here in Roche Harbor.  Blue skies and warm weather made for a pleasurable paddle around Henry Island.  During our lunch break we did some tidepooling to see the great diversity of life in the intertidal areas where we saw seastars, anemones, crabs, gobies, and all kinds of shellfish. On the water we saw lots of bald eagles, jellyfish, and seals.  A high point of the trip had to be a mother seal with her new pup coming within 10 yards of us...

Capt. Gabe and I headed out of Roche Harbor with a beautiful, sunny day and slightly cooler temperatures than this hot, hot weekend. The reports of orcas were coming from way up in Canadian waters near Vancouver, so we sailed north to see if we could rendezvous with our friends north across the border. On the way there we stopped and said hello to almost 80 Harbor Seals hauled out on rocks near Spieden Island! I don't think I've ever seen so many Harbor Seals in one place...

Today Captain Pete and I left the dock on the Seahawk with a glorious sunny day, a boat full of curious and excited passengers, and plenty of whale reports from which to choose. Armed with our whale knowledge and eagerness to see wildlife, we headed North out of Roche Harbor. Right off the bat we were greeted in Mosquito Pass with a great blue heron taking off with its large, slow wingbeats as well as a bald eagle perched in a tree.

Heading out into Haro Strait towards...

Today Captain Gabe, Brian and myself took out the Seahawk with a boat full of excited passengers and a clear blue sky looking for wildlife. We had no reports of whales when we left the dock so we began to head north to see what we could find when left to our own devices. Up near Spieden Island we encountered maybe 40 or 50 harbor seals both hauled out on an exposed reef as well as swimming around in the water. One inportant way to differentiate seals from sinilar animals...

Today Captain Pete and I took an excellent group out on the Sea Hawk to look for wildlife. We had heard that there was some Killer Whale action East of Orcas Island in Rosario Strait, so we began our long luxurious cruise in between Orcas and Shaw/Lopez. Along the way we saw plenty of Harbor Seals and bald eagles until in the distance we began to see lots of puffs of air and black dorsal fins sneaking out of the water.

We came up on about half of J Pod as they were...

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 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...

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...

The day was sunny, the guests were excited, and we had whales to see! Captain Mike and myself whisked our guests off for a day on the water that felt more June than April. With reports of J Pod on the Westside, we zipped North to catch up with them.

Knowing we had time to see these Residents Killer Whales, we worked our way there, stopping for a few Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, and Steller Sea Lions around Spieden Island. As the largest privately owned island in the San...

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...