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A Turn Point of Events - Friday August 28

On Friday you could feel the the coolness of September creeping up on the end of August, and Capt. Jim and I were heading north to meet up with our wonderful Southern Resident Killer Whales, and little did we know that it would be one of the best whale watching trips...ever. The orcas seemed to be moving quicker than we expected since we saw them just past Battleship Island soon after we left Roche Harbor.

 

It was some members of J pod. We saw two of the big males in the...

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Family Time in the Juan de Fuca Strait-August 30th 2015

Today Captain Jim and I went on one of the longest journeys that the Hawk has been on this season! It was worth it to have such a great experience on the salty Captain's last day of the season.

Despite the wet weather earlier in the day our passengers were excited and ready to see some wildlife, and so were we! We left the dock under sunny skies and headed South through Mosquito Pass. As we cruised through the windy (and windy!) Pass, we checked out a great blue heron and...

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Salmon for Dinner in Haro Strait-August 26th, 2015

Today Captain Pete and I loaded up the Seahawk with passengers from Texas, Seattle, Colorado, and even France, and left the Roche Harbor dock in search of wildlife. We had heard that there were whales wayyyyyy down south near Heind Bank at the confluence of the Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca so we went South through the ever twisty Mosquito Pass.

As we began to motor down the West coast of San Juan Island, Pete and I were discussing that the tide was on its...

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Whales Pahty!- August 24

Yesterday Capt. Gave and I did not have very far to go. The breeze was cool and the sun, hot. We headed north to search for our illustrious friends, the southern residents. You know the ones with funny accents, wave at everybody, and drink a lot of sweet tea, you know those folks. Not really these southern residents only eat fish. And we first spotted them right north of Battleship Island outside of Roche Harbor! Sooo close right!?! It was a family of L pod! Which is...

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Feasting L Pod, Friday August 21, 2015

Captain Jim and I left Roche Harbor with reports of whales South off San Juan Island. The Seahawk slipped out Mosquito Pass and into the Haro and we were off into a beautiful day on the water. By the time we hit False Bay we'd caught up to a group of Resident Killer Whales milling a mile offshore.

Some groups of Residents we see on a regular basis as Naturalists, and some we don't see all that often. Myself, I have less experience with L Pod and find it a run challenge...

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The One That Got Away...August 22nd, 2015

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...

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Warm wind and whales--August 18th, 2015

At 3pm this afternoon, Captain Gabe and I left the Roche Harbor dock with a Sea Hawk full of excited passengers for our first trip of the day. The air was warm, the sun was high in the sky, and the southern resident killer whales were on the west side heading north. The journey there even more enjoyable than most thanks to the warm weather and non-existent winds. Not a single blanket was used today. When we saw our first spout, we were a little surprised, because there...

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A nod to L pod - August 17, 2015

Yesterday, Capt. Gabe and I hit the watery trail with a good ol' group down to False Bay to see if we could spy us some of the Souther Resident Killer Whales - or Rezzys as we affectionately call them. When first caught sight of them I honestly have to say that I was a little surprised. Because I couldn't really really positively ID any of the few we spotted first. I thought and thought and thought and suddenly Ocean Sun (L-25) popped up near us. It was L pod! This was...

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K Pod in Haro

What an incredible afternoon with K Pod! The Seahawk left Roche Harbor with positive reports of our Southern Resident killer whales. On our way to the whales we headed north out of Roche Harbor towards Battleship Island. As we rounded the north side of Henry Island we got some awesome views of both the amazing diving cormorants (medium-sized black birds with long necks , who nest on the cliffs at Kellett Bluff) as well as some beautiful bald eagles in our area. Bald...

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The (K)oolest (K)iller whales around--August 15th, 2015

That's right, Captain Jim and I met up with K-pod at Hannah Heights after a one hour motor down from Roche Harbor with a boat full of the loveliest guests we've ever had (and yes I say that about every trip). The stars of the show (from the Sea Hawk, at least), were Tika (k33) and his mother, Sekiu (k22). It was wonderful to be able see the size difference between a male and female. Tika is 14 years old, and still sprouting that huge dorsal fin. At this point, it's...

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