Kayak guide Blake was proud to report that he and his guests saw LOTS of whales today during his 5 hour tour. They were paddling down the west side of Henry Island when they came across a small group of whales. They hung out in the kelp bed and watched those whales go by. Then they paddled to a beach for lunch. A perfect day!
Whales were spotted along the southern and western sides of the island today, and one of our guides Tim reported back that he'd seen 6 or 7 individual orca whales during his 3 hour kayak tour. It's always exciting to see the whales, whether from a kayak or from our whale watching boat, but it isn't always possible during our 3 hour tour, so we're especially pleased that he and his guests were able to see them as well!
Yesterday I returned from a multi-day sea kayak trip with a family of three from Oregon. We paddled out of Friday Harbor and headed north to Jones Island state park. We were looking forward to relaxing, exploring and looking for wildlife for a few days. We saw a ton of jellies (formerly known as jellyfish), including lion's mane and water jellies. We even saw a few glimpses of a California sea lion! It happened just as we departed our slips in Friday Harbor, and...
Greetings all!
Our guide, Joe, just returned from his 10am 3-hour sea kayak tour and had an amazing tour. While they were near Henry Island's McCracken Point they saw an Eagle swoop down, land in the water and fifteen seconds later pulled itself out with a fish in it's talons. It was an amazing sight. Shortly there after our guests, Jim and Marylynne paddled near a huge lion's mane jellyfish.
Today on the Whale Watch boat we got to observe 3 Transient Whales. They were spotted off Patos Island. The Transient Orca whales are always a treat to see because they are very stealthy travelers. They navigate the waters around the San Juans in search of their prey, which consists of orpoise, seals, and even other whales. The individuals spotted today were T-18, T-19A and T-19Bs. Yet another beautiful day on the water in the San Juans.
Weather: Partly Cloudy...
Yesterday was a wet one here on San Juan Island, but the whales didn't mind. Captain Brent and I had a 1:00 trip yesterday out of Roche Harbor and were able to see J, K, and L pod on the west side of San Juan Island. They were spread out along a huge portion of the island so we did not see every single animal but we did have great looks at several small groups of whales including a particularly close look at a male in L-pod. In addition, we saw a few close...
All three of my kayak trips had excellent harbor seal shows! The water was glassy enabling us to see every little seal head. This time of the year harbor seal pups are starting to leave their mothers and are more adventurous than ever! We had one particular pup who was very interested in our kayaks and continually popped up next to and behind us. It is also harbor seal mating season and we watched many seals launch their bodies out of the water and lob their...
On our 11am Whale Watch tour out of Roche Harbor, our naturalist Kevin reported not only seeing some members of L-Pod but also being fortunate enough to see the newest addition, L-112 born to L-86. L-112 was extremely playful at the surface of the water, rolling around and as well as breaching (leaping out of the water). It was very exciting to see such a small Orca exhibiting so much exuberance!
Orca calves are born after a 17 month gestation period and on...
Today our guide Megan had an awesome familly sea kayak tour! They saw red rock crab, purple and green shore crab, mossy chiton, and an abundance of ochre sea stars when they got out on Posey Island to stretch their legs. Later that afternoon she took out a group of adults on a Bicycle Adventures specific tour, where they paddled to a kelp bed and saw two bald eagles relaxing in a nearby tree on McCracken point.
Whales Again!!! On our second Whale Watch tour for the day, Captain Brian, reported seeing our resident K-Pod. There are two types of killer whales seen our waters: Transients and Residents Orca whales. Transients diets consist of marine mammals while the residents are fish eating Orcas.
It was quite a show with lots of spy hopping, a behavior in which the Orca comes straight out of the water with its eyes above the surface before dropping back down.
Another...