Whale Watching Update for 8/21. Captain Brian P and Noelle were fortunate that two groups of our Southern Resident Community were in the vicinity. Our vessel Sea Hawk observed J-Pod in the morning not far from the harbor, and then K-pod and J-pod joined in the afternoon. Once the two groups joined, there were lots of percussives (breaching, lob tailing), and lots of milling and socializing. Good viewing all afternoon. Both sightings today were withing 5 miles...

Excellent Weather for kayaking today from our Roche Harbor Hub. First day in several there were no Killer Whale sightings by our sea kayak tours. Flat calm waters, and lots of wildlife in the normal locations. Guides today were Noelle, Kaitlyn, Don, Joe, and Blake. All reported smooth waters, blue skies, and lots of critters. Noelle reported seeing a rare Stellar Sea Lion near the Kelp Forest off McCracken point. More updates to follow.

Aileen and I are preparing an overnight tour departing tomorrow, and Joe called to tell us he saw a great whale show by kayak this afternoon on his 2:00pm 3-hour tour from Roche Harbor. Probably the same whales Blake saw on his 5-Hour tour a little South of Joe. The report was lots of whales, grouped up tight. Lots of socializing. The reports of grouped up whales and socializing are really great! As I've said before, it normally means they are well fed. Let's...

Amazing day for sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands says 5-hour guide Blake Hough. We were correct in predicting Blake would encounter northbound whales this afternoon. Moving in northbound past Kellet Bluff on Henry Island, the whales were well grouped up close to shore. Excellent views!!
Lots of other wildlife as well, not to mention a blue bird day by 12:30pm. Enough breeze to keep the paddlers cool. Lots of bird life, and lots of seals. Distant view of...

Excellent tours this morning with Kaitlyn and Aileen as guides. A little overcast early on, which can be good weather for sea kayaking. As the day progressed, the sun pushed out the high marine cloud layer and ushered in a beautiful day. Lots of seals, eagles, river otters and more today. The jellyfish blooms continue to cloud the water with hundreds of jellies, all shapes and sizes. The Kelp Forests are now at the their peak, and are as think as a fire hose....

Our 11AM Whale Watching tour saw whales this morning, traveling from Pile Point to Andrews Bay. We're lucky large fish numbers are keeping the whales close to San Juan Island. This is not always true. Early season trips often send us to Point Roberts, Deception Pass, Race Rocks, and everywhere in between. Having the whales close to our departure point takes the pressure off, and allows us to take our time observing the whale's behavior.
Lots of breaching...

Our 3PM Whale Watching Tour saw whales again today. We were fortunate that the group of whales we observed this morning didn't move too far away, and were joined by a group coming in from the Northwest. The Northwestern Group (J-Pod) had been feeding as far north as the Frazier river that morning. The two groups joined up and continued north together eventually, after much socializing (breaching, spyhopping, lob-tailing and more). Lots of socializing usually...

Excellent 5-hour tour for Aileen today. Aileen's trip report came in a little later than Tim's, but she also saw Killer Whales on her sea kayak tour!! Similar area to Tim, except it sounds like she saw a different group of whales. The stretch of water between Kellett Bluff on Henry and McCracken Point on Henry is just spectacular this time of the year. We've been really lucky this summer with lots of salmon runs keeping the whales close to our main kayaking hub...

A quick post from our 5-hour kayak tour today. For the 3rd day in a row, our guide Tim saw killer whales on his kayak tour. Today Tim was paddling on the west side of Henry Island, and saw J-p0d swimming north just after our lunch break. Seeing whales swim along this shoreline is truly one of the most spectacular sites in nature. Undeveloped shorlines, views of the Olympics to the south, and beautiful water all around.
This season has been one of our best for...

Wow our guide Tim is having a killer whale sighting streak. This is his third day in a row seeing whales on his kayak tour. Today he was the guide for our 5-hour sea kayak around Henry Island. All of our guests came back pumped to see J-pod. Also they were fortunate enough to see a California Sea Lion which a rare sight to see. It seems that abundant salmon runs are keeping the whales close to the islands, which is great for both the whale watching and kayak tours...