Yesterday (Sunday), was another beautiful day out on the water in the San Juan Islands. It’s still summer here, hot and sunny, but there are signs of fall starting in the more northerly regions of the planet. Different birds species that breed and nest in the arctic regions are returning here in preparation for winter. Most notably (maybe just my favorites) are the phalaropes. These groups of birds are a little smaller than doves and hang around drifting mats of logs and...

Today we took the Seahawk out for another beautiful cruise through the San Juan Islands. We left Roche Harbor to head towards Sentinel Rock, a popular seal haul-out location. Harbor seals are about 5 or 6 feet long and weight around 300 pounds, most of which is blubber. Even though they're covered in this generous layer of fat, they still get chilly in our frigid, 47 degree Fahrenheit waters, so they often scoot themselves up on rocky islands and shorelines to bask in our...

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...

Today on M/V Sea Hawk was amazing. We caught up with some whales earlier than expected, just off of Turn Point. It was J2 Granny! Although there were no other whales in our immediate vicinity, there were some a few miles away, and thats nothing when you can communicate like an orca can (via sound that travels 8-10 miles). Everyone on the boat, and everyone on shore watched in awe as the oldest known killer whale in the world (105 this year) swam along Stuart Island--even a dog that seemed to be...

Today's wildlife tour took the Seahawk on a cruise around some of the most beautiful and eccentric islands in the San Juans. We ducked out of Roche Harbor through Mosquito Pass where double created and pelagic cormorants were drying their wings off on the buoys marking private docks. Once we moved into Haro Strait we picked up a little bit of a breeze and a light chop until we put the wind behind us and headed north. We spotted a bald eagle soaring past the west side of...

J37 Hy'Shqa breaching

I was shocked to have residents back in today. They left on Saturday, and I was expecting them to take a long absence. Luckily, J pod must have come back in late last night, because there were some way up north in the Strait of Georgia. Even luckier for us, there were some on the west side of San Juan Island. We left Roche Harbor through Mosquito Pass, thinking we were going to head down toward Eagle Point. However, before we got all the way...

Gull grabbing small bait fish from a bait ball at the surface.

About 2.5 hours in to hour 3-hour tour this afternoon, Captain Gabe, and I, along with the 22 guests on board, began to make our way back toward Roche Harbor. We had already encountered a ton of wildlife. This included a few species of birds foraging over a bait ball (pictured). We observed flying bald eagles, roosting cormorants, harbor porpoise, harbor seal, and even the (non-native) mouflon sheep of...

This morning, Captain Jim and I departed Roche Harbor with positive reports of some southern resident killer whales north of us, in Boundary Pass. So, we cruised north past Speiden, through John’s Pass, and eventually caught up with the whales a few miles northeast of Turn Point. I immediately recognized J42 Echo, and therefore knew that we had to have the rest of the J16s with us somewhere. Shortly thereafter, J16 Slick, the matriarch, and her youngest calf J50 Scarlet surfaced while...

Calf surfaces just behind mother. This is often called eschelon swimming, when the baby is just being pulled in adults slip stream.

Aboard the M/V Sea Hawk, guests were excited about reports of transient killer whales off of the shore of county park. However, as we departed Roche Harbor and out of mosquito pass, guests were treated with a surprise! We ran into granny the 105 year old killer whale female and a member of J-Pod! With Oynx shortly behind her, a member of L...

The past few weeks things have been very busy here. Part of the Southern Residents have been in our waters for a few weeks foraging. The annual conference of orca fans, enthusiasts, and researchers called SuperPod has been in town, and the weather has finally started to feel like summer. Yesterday (Wednesday) Captain Gabe and I went south with a great group south along the west side of San Juan Island. It is called the Haro Strait and this deep trench leading northward is...