O M G everybody there are whales all over the place! Captain Pete, and guests aboard the M/V Sea Hawk, headed out of Roche Harbor  through some rough seas and intense fog banks to make it to where reports of our Southern Resident Orcas were milling around. The fog lifted just enough for us to spot all three resident pods right off of False Bay. It was quite the experience! The first group we encountered seemed to be in a resting pattern, but they were closely followed by...

M/V Sea Hawk departed on the 3pm trip in hopes to head north. However, Captain Jim heard a report of Orcas closer, so we headed south out of Mosquito Pass. Earlier in the day we saw Js and Ks separate, Js moving north and Ks moving south. By the time we left, Js were already in the Strait of Georgia and Ks were around Eagle Point milling.

Since we know these are resident orcas, we know they are following the Chinook Salmon up to the Frasier River. This is exactly where Js...

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying a wonderful family for a three-hour tour (hold your Gilligan's Island references) bopping around Pearl, Posey and Henry Islands! We had a great time seeing some of the wildlife and plant life of the San Juans. Some highlights included a fly-over by potentially the largest great blue heron I have ever seen, a family of three raccoons on the shore, and some VERY inquisitive harbor seal pups. We also enjoyed looking at some bull kelp...

Today was another beautiful day here in the San Juan's.  Clear skies with great temperatures made for a pleasurable paddle.  The water chop did alter our route a little bit but did not impair on the fun and sight seeing.  We ended up paddling by English Camp and spotting several bald eagles.  We also had a seal decide to follow right behind our kayaks for about one hundred yards.  Also, we paddle by a mother seal with her pup that couldn't have been more than a couple...

Today's trip was full of perfect weather as well as great photo ops for a diverse range of wildlife! From a bald eagle perched atop a a nearby tree to the awesome view of a mother harbor seal playing with her pup, we had great wildlife encounters all day! The jellyfish sure were out today as we were able to identify two common species. The moon jelly and water jelly (not very creatively named, i will say) were all over the place! It was another great day of paddling.

Kaya...

We started out the tour by paddling from Roche Harbor through Mosquito Pass and out into the Haro Straight.  This is typically my favorite part of the paddle going from the narrow Mosquito Pass out into the openness of the Haro Straight. The conditions were perfect today, comfortable temperatures out on the water with glass-like water.  You couldn't ask for better weather!  We also had some close interactions with wildlife.  A momma seal was seen escorting her pup up the...

Captain Jim and myself were aboard M/V Sea Hawk for two trips today! Our first trip departed at 9am and with no reports we headed south. The Sea Hawk was cruising at about 13 knots, the water was like glass, and there were no clouds in the sky! We got to about Eagle Point and still no reports.  Finally, once we were headed toward Discovery Island, we heard of Js and Ks inbound east of Discovery, it ended up being us being a little north of where the Resident orcas were...

The three hour family trip this morning was timed perfectly to catch a -2.0 low tide. With the tide this low, it's worth stopping by Posey island for a little jaunt around this wee state park. Usually we can find a grand amount of intertidal treasures, and today was no exception! I had a wonderful family with me, with two boys who were game for eating whatever algae/seaweed I told them was edible. They discovered some new favorites. Then we found a plethora of ocre stars...

We started off our 5 hour tour by heading South through Mosquito Pass, sighting harbor seals, sea stars, jellies and eagles along the way. After lunch, we began our paddle along the West side of Henry Island, and just before reaching Half Moon Bay, we spotted Resident Orca Whales surfacing several hundred yards offshore! We rafted up and gently drifted as we watched them play and feed as they headed South through the Haro Strait. Thinking most of them had passed, we...

We headed out of Roche Harbor headed North for reports of whales in Boundry Pass.  We found the whales just North of Turn Point on Stewart Island.  The whales were traveling south at a pretty fast pace.  Usually when we see whales traveling fast they exhibit a behavior called porpoising.  Porpoising is when the whales come out of the water at bursts of speed in order to gain momentum in the water.  We got a great look a the J-16s which includes Slick and her three...