We had such an awesome day on the water. It was an incredible day with lots of first experiences for everyone who was paddling or on the whale watch. Noelle & Britt were on the desk all day and even they were super envious of the guides wildlife encounters!

Captain Nancy and Naturalist Kevin left Roche Harbor this morning on the Sea Hawk and motored down Mosquito Pass. When they got to the southern most point of Henry Island near Kellet Bluff, there were salmon jumping...

Daaang it’s been toasty warm! The high today was forecasted to be nearly 85. Let me tell ya, it feels like it down on the dock! Operations manager Noelle & reservations chica Britt, along with dock dude Joe & Jacob have been down here all day…I’m pretty sure they are melting in this heat :).

We had an exciting day on the water today. Captain Brian and Naturalist Kevin were on the Sea Hawk all day. They met up with the whale near the Lime Kiln Lighthouse late morning...

Captain Brian and Naturalist Kevin just got back to the dock from their morning whale watch and they reported seeing all the Ks and Ls traveling together. The Sea Hawk met up with the whales just outside Roche Harbor, near Battleship Island along the Westside of Henry Island (Battleship island is a wildlife refugee for harbor seals, shore birds, and bald eagles…cool stuff!). Brian shut down the engines of the Sea Hawk and floated with the whales for over 1.5 hours. Kevin...

Captain Brian and Naturalist Tiffany just got off the water from their trips today and they saw tons of killer whales! The highlight of the trip was when a big male killer whale started coming toward the Sea Hawk with his mouth open. His mouth was open so wide that Captain Brian could see his teeth and tongue! This whale surfaced right next to the boat and there was a HUGE salmon in his mouth! Brian thought it was either a Pink or Sockeye salmon. The whale gobbled it up...

We have had a lot of really cool killer whale encounters the last few days. Captain Brian and Naturalist Kevin had most of their encounters recently near the southern end of San Juan Island. The whales really seem to prefer the areas between Pile Point & False Bay lately! They saw most of J & K pod swimming together with a lot of exciting surface activity. At one point, they were completely surrounded by killer whales. Captain Brian shut down the engines and waited for...

Guests on the Sea Hawk have been so lucky the past few days! While we do have over a 90% success for seeing whales during the summer, we don’t always see superpods. Today, we had another superpod! This is the 4th time in about a week. We first received reports of whales being near Kellet Bluff on Henry Island (Henry Isl. is one of the islands that barriers Roche Harbor). The Sea Hawk, with Captain Brian and Naturalist Kevin meet up with the whales near Hein Bank, which...

Overnight guide Nick just got back with his guests who were on a 3 day/2 night multi-day trip. The group departed from Friday Harbor early Friday morning, and paddled to Caution Point and Yellow Island before making their way to Jones Island. Nick and his guests agreed that the highlight of the trip was on their second night. The group hiked to the Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island at dusk to see the sunset. The happened to be there at the exact right time and saw...

Naturalists Tiffany and Captain Nancy saw the killer whales on both whale watching trips! The headed south out of Roche Harbor and approached J& K-pods near Andrews Bay, which is about 3 miles north of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. On the afternoon trip, the Sea Hawk met up with the whales just outside of Roche Harbor again! This happened a few days ago too :).

It was a bit blustery, but we were operating kayak trips as usual. Operations manager/kayak guide Noelle & Michael...

Captain Brian and Naturalist Tiffany just got back from their morning whale watch and they saw whales! The Sea Hawk departed Roche Harbor and traveled towards False Bay which is near the South Western end of San Juan Island. Captain Brian called to say they were in thick fog, but could hear the whales surfacing & breathing near the boat. The Sea Hawk shut down the engines and waited for whales to appear out of the fog. Polaris (J28) and her calf Star surfaced right near...

Two blog updates in one day!? What's going on here?? This update is so awesome that it deserves a whole blog to itself.

Captain Brian and Naturalist Tiffany just called from the Sea Hawk and they had a SUPERPOD! All 80+ Southern Resident Community killer whales where resting together along the west side of San Juan Island.

Awesome-sauce? Uh, yeah!