Our Captain Brian returned from our 11am Whale Watch out of Roche Harbor with a report an uncommon sighting of Transient whales. They saw the very large male T-102, as well as T-100 and T-90. Transient are the marine mammal eating whales that you see on the Discovery Channel. Although they do frequent the San Juan Islands, their sporadic movements and elusive behavior make them a rare sighting. They were spotted near Halibut Island near Kelp Reef on the...

Today I paddled out with two friends from Seattle who were excited to see all the wildlife the San Juans have to offer. We were getting some great looks at bald eagles, sea birds and harbor seals and were taking a short break in a forest of bull kelp when the report came in that whales were in the Haro Strait and headed south-- towards us! We watched as whale watch boats moved down the strait and then noticed that a few whales were much closer to shore--to us. At...

Naturalist Kevin is on his lunch break and he has reported of a fantastic first trip today. Kevin and Nancy had a lovely experience viewing a superpod in Boundary Pass. A superpod is a term used to describe when the three pods: J, K, and L, join together to socialize and mate. The crew and guests were able to view quite a bit of exciting behaviors including adult males breaching as well as calves breaching. They also saw all of J-pod traveling very close...

Guests on our 11am Whale Watch tour were able to beat the heat (we are having 90 degree days) while they enjoyed watching J, K and some of L-Pod. The Orcas were spotted from Open Bay to the Light House and throughout the tour there was lots of breaching.

It was a great day on the water and an awesome sight to see!

Captain Brian P. and Naturalist Kendall just returned back to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island from a successful whale watch trip in Rosario Strait. They were able to view members of J and K pod which combined is over 45 whales! Typically, when pods join up and travel together, they may spend time socializing and mating and often we are able to see some very interesting behaviors such as tail slapping, breaching and spyhopping. They were also able to see other...

Megan, one of our Kayak guides, reported that the guests on our 3 hour sea kayak tour were so excited to see K-Pod while they were paddling on the west side of Henry Island. They had just gone past McCracken Point on Henry Island when they happened to spot orcas in K-Pod going north towards Stuart Island. It was an amazing sight to see!

What a day!!! Brian, the captain of the Seahawk, reported that both of our whale watch tours were able to see the orcas in K-Pod and L-87. K-Pod is one of the three pods of the southern community orcas and is one of the pods that we frequently see on our tours.

What a fantastic day to be out on the water!

Today I paddled out under gorgeous skies with a small family, and we were on the hunt for wildlife! We've been seeing a great number of harbor seal pups lately, especially out on the west side, where there are a number of safe haul out spots for them. It was great to view them at a distance, and listen to their vocalizations, but even better to see them close up. As we were paddling near a forest of bull kelp, a mother seal and her pup surfaced just a few feet from...

This afternoon Noelle and I paddled out with a private tour from the Institute of Journalism and Natural Resources (IJNR). It was an absolutely gorgeous day out on the west side, and the temperature was hot enough to convince a few hardy souls to go swimming! While in a bed of bull kelp we saw a young harbor seal pup hauled out on top of a few stipes. The pup was totally relaxed, often yawning and lying turned away from us. This summer's pups have been making quite...

Today, during out 3 hour sea kayak tour, we were paddling on the south side of Posey Island and saw about six Black Oyster Catchers, beautiful birds with distinctive red and long beaks, chattering loudly and scouring the intertidal zone for food. Oyster Catchers are native to the San Juans and it is always exciting to see them in action.

Also due to the flood tide there were also a significant amount of Moon Jellies spotted near the shoreline of Henry Island. They...