j pod

Today we had a great time with the Southern Resident Killer Whales of J Pod! The M/V Sea Hawk left Roche Harbor and motored out to the north end of Stewart Island where we caught up with the J14's, J16's, J19's and L87 off Turn Point. When we got on seen we watched as J19, Sachi, came full out of the water in a high breach! Guest were all very excited to see such an amazing display of behavior (as was I)! The whales continued to be very active and broke up into different...

Today the M/V Sea Hawk left Roche Harbor for two trips! We ended up catching up with my personal favorite matriline in the entire southern resident community: the J16s, comprised of Mom, J16 (Slick) and her three offspring, J26 (Mike),  J36 (Alki), and little seven year old J46 (Echo).  We watched them come down from Turn Point on Stewart Island, the most northwesterly part of the continental US. They traveled down at high speeds,  then spread out to forage! We also...

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...

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Sunday, June 6th:

Emily paddled out on her first 3 hour sea kayak tour of the season and what a way to start the summer! She saw a red fox on the beach, numerous harbor seals and eagles, lots of shore birds and our Southern Resident Killer Whales! Off the west side of Henry Island and moving north, she and her guests saw a few small groups at a time, from all 3 pods-- the SUPERPOD! J's, K's and L's were present and all slowly...

I paddled out today amid strong winds, and was really surprised and pleased to see some resident orca whales! We saw some of J pod traveling down the Haro Strait (we were able to confirm the identity of the whales with the help of our whale watch boat). Although July and August are the best months to see the resident orca whales, they spend time in this area year round, and so can be seen at any time.

Captain Nancy and naturalist Margo just returned from a very happy whale watch tour. They reported seeing a very spread out group of southern resident orca whales-- specifically, J pod. They saw a few breaches, pedunkle throws (cartwheel-like behaviors) and lots more activity. Margo says she got some great looks at siblings Blackberry (J-27), Mako (J-39) and Tsuchi (J-31)!

The weather is beautiful down here in the harbor, and it was a great trip for all on board...

Today I paddled out with two friends from Seattle who were excited to see all the wildlife the San Juans have to offer. We were getting some great looks at bald eagles, sea birds and harbor seals and were taking a short break in a forest of bull kelp when the report came in that whales were in the Haro Strait and headed south-- towards us! We watched as whale watch boats moved down the strait and then noticed that a few whales were much closer to shore--to us. At...

Last Tuesday morning we set out from Roche Harbor with 14 people aboard our boat the Sea Hawk. It was a drizzly morning but the wildlife was still fantastic. On our way out we motored over to a large group of Harbor Seals hauled out on shallow rocks. They craned their necks to look at us but then went back to doing what they do best, napping! We also viewed several Bald Eagles perched majestically in the tree tops. After motoring down the west side of San Juan...

Captain Nancy and Kevin headed out of Friday Harbor today with a full boat of local middle schoolers. They headed down to Alden Bank, while braving strong winds from the southwest. When they arrived they saw a lot of activity from the whales, including multiple breaches! It was a long trip but the 23 young kids enjoyed the effort.