M/V Sea Hawk got to experience some curious resident orcas this afternoon. Captain Chris and myself took our guests over to the west side of San Juan Island to encounter J-pod. When we approached the orcas they were porpoising quickly and high out of the water. A lot of the time when we see them doing this, they are picking up speed while traveling.

We watched Granny's group travel past us and then slow down. They started to socialize with one another and it looked as...

Today was an one of those rare days where everything lined up perfectly! The weather was phenomenal, without a cloud in the sky, and the water was as calm as I have ever seen it in the Haro Strait. To add on to this perfect day on the water we also had....you guessed it, whales! Both J and L pod of our resident whales, or fish-eating whales, were out on the westside of San Juan Island. It looked to be a great show for both viewers on vessels, kayaks, and also land-based...

We left Roche Harbor today with no confirmed whale sightings in the area.  We decided to head down Mosquito Pass and go down the West side of San Juan in hopes of spotting some whales since that is an area they have been commonly seen.  In route we saw quite a few bald eagles in flight as well as some harbor porpoises in Haro Strait.  We got down to around Eagle Point and sighted a large portion of the resident L-pod.  They were approximately 15 individuals traveling very...

Today when we left Roche Harbor it was raining and foggy.  We exited Roche by way of Mosquito Pass and entered into Haro Strait.  We headed south down San Juan Island and the sun then decided to come out right as we came across some whales! We came upon J2 (Granny) who was headed North up towards Boundary Pass.  It is pretty common to see Granny leading the group during travel period.  Granny is the matriarch of J pod, which means she is the oldest female in the group and...

M/V Sea Hawk was able to enjoy Resident Orcas on both trips today. With our departure at 11AM, we met up with them around Eagle Point.  The orcas were spread out, but several larger groups of four or five. It appeared that the orcas were fishing. Resident orcas are fish eating only mammals and they specifically want Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon make up about 80-90% of the orca's diet. On average, adult male orca needs about 400 pounds of salmon per day!

Eagle point is a...

Captain Pete and Naturalist Chelsea left Roche harbor in a hurry to head to salmon bank with reports of whales and boom we ended up finding whales around Kellet bluff and boy they were on a mission. Traveling at a consistent pace of 6+ mph, J and L pod were headed north fast. We were able to follow them to Stuart Island which was about an hour and a half. By the end of our tour we were getting reports that the whales were nearly to active pass! They were definitely ready...

Sunday was a beautiful day on the water as it has been all weekend. Glorious whale activity right out of Mosquito Pass and down the west side on San Juan Island. L pod was traveling very close together and we were able to spot some spy hops and breaches as well. Today really felt like summer, the sun was out the water was calm and the crew and guests were happy. We also had some other wildlife spotted, bald eagles, harbor seals, and even some harbors porpoise.

Enjoyable...

Today M/V Sea Hawk had two trips and were lucky enough to see residents and transient orcas! On our 11AM departure, Captain Nancy took our guests and myself along the westside of the island where we ran into our resident orcas just before Lime Kiln State Park. There were two separate groups of orcas that were moving slowly and appeared to be resting.

When orcas rest, they actually shut off half of their brain.  Since orcas need to come to the surface to breath, they need...

M/V Sea Hawk headed south today on their 11AM trip in hopes to catch up to J-pod. Once out of the harbor, Captain Jim started hearing reports of a group of whales coming in from the west and a group heading west. We then started to hear that the group coming in from the west was L-pod! This is the first time for all of L-pod to come into the San Juans this season and when this occurs, a greeting ceremony occurs!

I, personally, have never witnessed a greeting ceremony and...

Today, captain Chris and myself, took our guests all the way up to Active Pass in the Canadian Gulf Islands. We had reports of J-pod heading north before we even left the dock, so our goal was to catch up to them. Guests were excited and willing to go so far to see the resident orcas! I was able to inform guests how quickly and how far the orcas could travel in one day.

Resident orcas are known to travel over 100 miles per day and can reach speeds up to 30mph! By the time...