harbor porpoise

Today Captain Gabe and I had quite the experience on the ol' Hawk.

We boarded an excited crowd in Roche Harbor, and we were eager ourselves to get out and see some of the incredible wildlife that the San Juan Islands have to offer. Earlier in the day, we watched as the Southern Resident Killer Whales headed North to feed on salmon in the Fraser River and were now out of our range. However, Captain Gabe had another trick up his sleeve: Transients.

Unlike their fish-eating...

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 Captain Chris and I went on a whirlwind of a tour! With a report in hand of whales traveling south near the Anacortes ferry terminal we set out for a very determined tour. We left Roche Harbor heading south through both Spieden and San Juan Channels. We realized that we would not be able to see the orcas and make it back to Roche Harbor in the regular three hour window, so we consulted our group and they were very excited to go for a longer trip. Through Cattle Pass...

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

Today's whale watching trip out of Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, was THE most amazing trip in the San Juan Islands that I can remember! Our trip started with limited knowledge of where our resident killer whales were located and it seemed that they might have been out of range for our trip. However, it wasn't long before our luck turned and soon we were getting great looks of J-pod in every direction - and some of them were even breaching!!! This, however, was not the...

Yesterday's whale watch trip started out unspectacularly- as we were leaving the dock the sky was overcast, with bits of drizzle here and there and we hadn't heard any news about whales in the area all morning. As a whale watch guest who has paid good money this uncertainty can be disheartening, but I assured all 8 of our passengers that sometimes while we are out we hear reports of whales from other boats and that sometimes we ourselves are the first ones to stumble...

Captain Brian G. and I went out for a private charter this morning, and what a gorgeous morning it was! Some spectacular highlights were watching a peregrine falcon in flight (3 different times!) off Turn Point, watching a school of harbor porpoise race towards an oncoming boat and bow ride (not typical behavior), and getting some amazing views of a large herd of male mouflon sheep. They were off by themselves, and we saw some good examples of aggression between...

The blustery weather cleared long enough for Captain Brian and I to set out on a whale watch tour. We were hoping for a sighting of transient orcas (killer whales), but no luck. We were lucky with a few harbor porpoise sightings, many many harbor seals, a number of bald eagles displaying interesting behavior and a wonderful up close look at a peregrine falcon sitting just a few feet away!

We also drove very close to Spieden Island where we were able to see large...

Well Noelle and I just returned from our first multi day sea kayak tour of 2010! We had a great, cheerful group and were both happy to get out on the water and dust some cobwebs off our paddling skills. We left Friday Harbor, paddled north and on Day 3 arrived at Roche Harbor-- all without retracing our steps.

Despite varying inclement weather our cheerful group made the best of each day. We were able to paddle around the Wasp Islands, hike around Jones Island...

Today I was able to paddle out with a lovely family new to the Northwest. Luckily for us we had gorgeous weather and could see clear to the Olympic, Cascade and Vancouver Island mountain ranges. The wildlife was visible as well, with a number of harbor seal sightings, various shorebirds seen and heard and even three harbor porpoise. I thoroughly enjoyed showing off a bit of the splendor of the islands, and the Pacific Northwest!

For me the highlight was spotting...