San Juan Island Outfitters

San Juan Island sea kayak tour sees whales (again!)

2009-07-05T11:31:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for July 5th:

Joe returned to Roche Harbor after a 5 hour orca search tour with his guests. As his paddlers were in great shape they paddled south down San Juan Island before heading west to loop up and around Henry Island. Their 12+ mile paddle brought them into the Haro Strait where they could see our resident killer whales heading south. Although the orcas were in the distance, Joe and his guests were excited to see them.
For San Juan Outfitters today makes the 5th straight day we've seen orcas on our 3 and 5 hour sea kayak tours, not to mention the whale watch tours. It's been a great week full of whale activity here on the west side!

Whales are a July 4th treat for San Juan Island sea kayak tour

2009-07-05T00:07:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for July 4th:

Yesterday Deborah set off on a 5 hour "Orca Search By Kayak" sea kayak tour and boy did they find whales! Deborah reported that the southern resident killer whales were spread out across the Haro Strait, and her group was in the perfect position to see a lot of activity from the whales as they swam past. While normally the protocol (for kayaking when whales are present) is to paddle offshore, yesterday the currents were so strong that it would have been potentially dangerous to have her group spread out and paddling separately so as the whales came closer Deborah brought her guests into a forest of bull kelp and had everyone sit tight. Once there the whales came closer than even she expected. The whales came into the kelp, and at one point surfaced so close to Deborah that "she could have reached out her 6ft paddle and touched it".

Truly a spectacular whale encounter for the whole group, and what a treat during such a celebratory weekend!

San Juan Island whale watch continues to see killer whales every day this week

2009-07-04T21:29:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island whale watch wildlife report for July 4th:

Captain Nancy and Noelle reported back seeing L pod, of the southern resident killer whales down at False Bay this morning, thus continuing a long streak of whale sightings. This past week we've been fortunate enough to have the orcas at our back door, i.e., on the west side of the island. J, K & L pods have all been passing by through the Haro Strait almost every day now, and often in a "Superpod", which is the term for when all three pods are joined up and socializing or traveling together.

Gorgeous sunset seen from 3 hour sea kayak tour

2009-07-03T22:39:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for July 3rd:

This evening I paddled out of Roche Harbor for a sunset tour, and boy was it spectacular. I think sunset tours are my favorite because we saw all the local critters-- bald eagles and eaglets, harbor seals, harbor porpoises-- but also had the waters to ourselves as most recreational boaters had already turned in.

This trip we were especially lucky to have seen a few harbor porpoises out feeding and also a mother harbor seal giving her young pup a ride on her back. It was a nearly cloudless day, and the colors were spectacular, so I'm glad we stayed out a few extra minutes to watch it truly set.

San Juan Island 3 hour sea kayak tour has truly spectacular encounter with killer whales

2009-07-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Wednesday, July 1rst:

This morning I paddled out with two couples for a 3 hour sea kayak tour from Roche Harbor. While we paddled down the west side of Henry Island we saw a large number of whale watch boats out in the Haro Strait. As we drew closer we could make out small black dorsal fins surfacing out there, and could even see some of the larger splashes from these southern resident killer whales tail slapping and breaching. As my guests didn't have to rush back to the docks, we decided to extend our trip and cross our fingers that whales would come our way.
While we sat off the southwest corner of Henry watching the whales from a distance I saw 5 or 6 whales come around Kellet Bluffs very close to shore. We brought our kayaks together to form a raft and watched as a few whales continued in our direction. When one large male dived on one side of us and surfaced on the other, we thought we had seen it all, so we were all the more surprised when a female with a very young calf did the same. When those two surfaced they were not more that 25 feet away!! We were so close to those animals, and could see the dorsals wobble a bit on the surface. It was truly an incredible encounter, and one not likely to be soon forgotten!

Rescue Training

2009-07-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak update for June 29th & 39th:

Samantha, Noelle, Nick, Joe, Megan and I just returned from a two-day intense training session with Body Boat Blade, a sea kayaking instruction business on Orcas Island. BBB is one of the best kayaking schools in the world, so it was a fantastic opportunity to learn from the leaders in this field. It was a great chance for us guides to get one-on-one instruction from experts and bring our skills to the next level. We practiced essential paddling moves from high braces to rolls, and also worked on our rescues. While all of our guides are skilled paddlers and can demonstrate a number of rescues and self-rescues, it was so much fun to put on some dry suits, jump in, and learn much more.

Kayaking in the San Juans can be challenging and potentially dangerous so it's important to be paddling through the area with experienced guides who are familiar with each channel, each island outcropping, the tidal exchanges and the strength of the currents--both of which change each day. This training with BBB has given us a deeper look at the water in our backyard, and we are excited to further practice our skills out on the straits!

Photographs from San Juan Island overnight sea kayak trip

2009-06-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak photograph update:

Many thanks go out to Robin and Steve who sent me all sorts of photos from our trip back in early May! Check out the original post describing all the wildlife we saw at http://www.sanjuanislandoutfitters.com/blog/2009/05/two-day-sea-kayak-tour-full-of-wildlife.html

Whale watch boat travels far but sees killer whales

2009-06-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island whale watch wildlife update for June 24th:

Yesterday Captain Brian and naturalist Kevin traveled quite a ways to see killer whales. The past few days we've had the whales in our backyards, but for this trip the boat had to catch up with them on their northbound journey. Although it was a long ride, everyone on the boat was pleased to have had the chance to see these magnificent creatures in the wild.

Rain doesn't damper spirits on sea kayak

2009-06-25T08:09:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 24th:

Yesterday started off gray and rainy, so I was pleased that my guests were not deterred by the cool weather. We made sure to dress appropriately with warm layers and raincoats, and headed out. It's absolutely essential that everyone who intends to go out on the water always brings clothing to stay warm and dry-- even in summer that means a fleece or other non-cotton layers, and a windbreaker or raincoat. It's always better to be prepared than caught unawares!

I love paddling when it's gray and misty out, especially when the water is almost absolutely still and it's hard to distinguish between sky and sea. We saw lots of wildlife yesterday, a sunflower sea star, a large group of playful and curious harbor seals, bald eagles, sea birds and even a harbor porpoise! The coolest thing was watching two adult down on the beach by the waters edge, and seeing one adult walk into the water and appear to lunge after prey in the low tide zone. I've never seen a bald eagle go 'wading' so that was really amazing!

3 hour sea kayak tour sights orca whales!

2009-06-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 23rd:

I'm SO pleased to be able to write about my own killer whale sightings today! This past week we've been seeing killer whales on multiple 3 hour, 5 hour and multi-day tours and whale watch trips, but today was the first time I've been the one to spot them!

I paddled out with a lovely family from California, and the seven of us made our way down the west side of Henry Island. As we could see over a dozen boats clustered together out in the Haro Strait, we started to look for killer whales. Although the whales were spread out and at a distance, we could see well enough to make out all the individual dorsal fins, the sprays of exhalations, and even the single breach! It was neat to be able to discern the tall males from the smaller females and juveniles.

It was such a great experience to be able to sit off shore and watch two different groups of killer whales swim by. So great, in fact, that not even this sight of four harbor porpoises surfacing 100 yds from our boats could distract us from the killer whales.

3 hour sea kayak tour sees killer whales!

2009-06-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 22nd:

Joe was pleased to report back that he spotted whales (for the third time this week!) during his 3 hour sea kayak tour departing from Roche Harbor. Although he and his guests had to contend with a strong running tide and a brisk wind, everyone was delighted to glimpse those large critters.

This past week has been full of fantastic wildlife sightings-- from new seal pups to killer whales just feet away. Between our whale watch tours and our hourly, daily and multi-day sea kayak tours, we've had a lot of killer whale sightings in the past few days, and as the resident orca whales are all in the area now, and we hope they'll find enough salmon here in our waters to keep them close by for the months ahead.

Harbor seals surface and play for San Juan Island sea kayak tour

2009-06-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 21rst:

This afternoon, with the morning rains abated, I paddled out for a 3 hour sea kayak tour with a lovely couple from Seattle. We were hoping to see all sorts of wildlife, and were very excited so many harbor seals came to play by our boats. While sitting on top of a forest of bull kelp just off McCracken Point, we saw first one, then two, then three, four, five and finally a dozen or so seals surfacing all around us. We watched a few patrol the outside edge, but were rewarded for our patience as a handful of seals decided we posed no threat, and proceeded to calmly surface just feet away! These individuals were surfacing on their backs, just poking their noses up to breath, and showed us close looks at their chests and bellies. It was super neat to see all the different markings on each seal-- from a Dalmation pattern to almost all black.

These seals surfaced again and again, riding the currents till they were just feet from us and then silently slipping under our bows. So neat!

Harbor porpoises pop up in front of sea kayak tour

2009-06-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 18th:

Today I paddled out on a 5 hour sea kayak tour with guests from all over the U.S.. We set off under graying skies, and encountered strong currents and big waves right off the bat. As we rounded Kellett Bluffs, we found ourselves paddling through rough water with the wind at our backs and waves breaking all around us. It was exciting to be paddling through such big water, and everyone had a wide smile on their face!

The skies cleared up and it ended up being a gorgeous day for a paddle, with two exciting wildlife encounters to boot! Just as we paddled out of the rough water a harbor porpoise emerged 30 feet off our bows. Although it became hard to spot as it swam through breaking waves, we saw it surface a few more times-- and quite close!

Then, as we sat in a forest of bull kelp, a few harbor seals began popping up all around us. They didn't seem surprised to see us, or disturbed at all. A light gray adult surfaced between our kayaks and twirled on the surface, showing his belly, closing his eyes slowly and snorting. Such a great chance to see a seal up close!

5 hour sea kayak tour paddles hard...

2009-06-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 17th:

I paddled out on a 5 hour Orca Search sea kayak tour today, and enjoyed my day with some hearty guests who were able to gamely paddle through some rough breaking waves. We were crossing our fingers that the resident killer whales on the south side of San Juan Island would continue to head north towards us. The whales moved northbound all the way to the lighthouse (Lime Kiln State Park) but then, alas, they turned away and moved out of range.

Although we were disappointed not to see any whales today, it means I'll be the more excited for them next time!

Posey Island is a perfect lunch stop for private sea kayak

2009-06-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 16th:

Today I paddled out of Roche Harbor on a private sea kayak tour and we paddled over to Posey Island for a picnic. Posey Island-- at high tide one of our nation's smallest state parks-- is a lovely spot to take a break, rest, relax, watch the sunset and even stay the night.

As we returned to the harbor we were fortunate enough to glimpse a mink scampering along Pearl's shores, a river otter playing off the Tarte's dock and then a harbor seal sunning its head in the shallow water.

Overnight sea kayak trek in the San Juan Islands

2009-06-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 9th and 10th:

Yesterday Joe, Nick and I along with new guides Megan and Tim returned from a little overnight kayak trip of our own. We paddled out to Stuart Island for the night, and then returned to Friday Harbor the second day. The gorgeous blue skies and calm waters let us take advantage of the area and explore some new routes. We saw lots of eagles and sea birds, and even found a small pod of harbor porpoises foraging off the western point of Speiden Island.

Whale Watching San Juan Island

2009-06-10T18:35:00.001-07:00

Whale Watching Log. I have not yet blogged about the Transient Killer Whale Encounter we had a couple weeks ago, May 22nd I believe. We had a late afternoon tour, and we were fortunate that some Transient Killer Whales were in the area. A friend who operates tours from Victoria, stayed with them until we arrived in their vicinity around 5:00pm. We were then treated to one of my top 5 Killer Whale shows of all time.

First let me briefly tell the newbies about Transient Killer Whales. Unlike the Southern Resident Killer Whales we see most often, who eat primarily eat Salmon, Transients primarily eat other marine mammals. This includes Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoise, and Dalls Porpoise in our region.

The transients were swimming in small groups socializing, until they encountered a group of 20-30 Harbor Porpoise. They began to spread out and clearly hunt. If you are squeamish, stop reading here.... As the hunt continued, a mother, teenage offspring, and 1 yr old lunged after two porpoise only 150 yards from our vessel, and that's all we though we were going to see. Watching transients after all is not like watching lions hunt zebra. Most of the carnage occurs under water as they finish off their prey, and nourish themselves. Tonight however was a different story. More pod members closed in on the prey and they were obviously sharing the killed porpoise with others. After some time, we observed the porpoise lungs bobbing around, and occasionally getting pulled under the water (we assume they were picking the carcass clean). This was certainly the case. After the whale left, we took a vote and closed in on the porpoise remains. The whales had very neatly cleaned everything away except the lungs, stomach, rib cage, intestines, and spine of two porpoise. Amazing!! Amazing how they were able to so neatly separate their prey, considering the tools they have to work with. I cannot wait to talk with my friend Dave, who studies Killer Whales and has seen this behavior before.

I hope this gets you excited to come see us for a tour this summer. Transient sightings are most frequent in the spring and early summer, when our residents are not around as much. This applies to the fall as well.

Brian's captain log from 5/22/09

Whale Watching Tour Wednesday June 10th

2009-06-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

Whale Watching Tour Log for Wednesday June 10th, 2009. Today we were fortunate to have our first sighting of the L-12 subgroup of L-pod. For those who are not familiar, L-pod is one of our three resident killer whale families or pods. These large pods consistent of smaller subgroups.
We received an early report that these whales were not far from our Roche Harbor location early this morning. By the time we departed at 11:00am, they had travelled further south than the original report. We caught up with some of the whales by noon around False Bay, on the West Side of San Juan Island. The whales were very spread out and foraging. We stayed with L-12 (female matriarch) and a L-89 for most of the day. We were rewarded toward the end of the tour, when L-12 herself did a little half breach, and then about three minutes later gave us a nice tail lob as she changed her direction and headed back north. The rest of the pod soon joined her in a northerly direction. They are probably foraging right now somewhere between Hein Bank and Pile Point on San Juan Island. This is a normal routine for this group. I believe K-20 and her offspring K38 were also travelling with the L-12 subgroup. Some curiosity about K-20 and K-38 not travelling with their own pod recently, but stranger things have happened. I think everyone would breath a sigh of relief if the rest of K-pod would show up soon. More to follow from Brian's Captain log.

Gorgeous sunset awaited San Juan Island sunset kayak tour

2009-06-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Sunday, June 7th:

This evening one of our new guides Tim paddled out on a 3 hour sunset sea kayak tour, and boy was it gorgeous out! The calm waters north of Henry Island allowed for an almost perfect reflection of the sun going down. It was briefly obscured by a low lying cloud bank just above Salt Spring Island, but then slipped down to reveal a huge, glowing red orb. It was a perfect night for a paddle!

2009-06-06T09:48:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island whale watch wildlife report Saturday, June 6th

Success! Nancy and I headed out from Roche Harbor and headed north in search of some members of K pod that had been spotted earlier that day. Whales in K pod are members of the Southern Resident Community, resident killer whales that spend their summers here in the Salish Sea as they hunt the salmon that pass through on their way to spawn upriver.

After a long boat ride (cruising with the current at 18 knts) we encountered the whales just a few miles south of Point Roberts. There we saw K 20, Spock, and her 5 year old calf Comet. Spock is a female killer whale with quite a large dorsal fin. It is so large that researchers had long thought her to be a male, so it was a big surprise the day she was spotted with a calf! These two were swimming slowly north at a pretty relaxed pace. We were able to spend time with them, watching them surface and dive in unison, and get fantastic clear looks at the dorsals and saddle patches.

After a long spell Nancy turned our boat south and as we headed down the channel and neared Skipjack Island, we started seeing the small fins of harbor porpoises all around us. Nancy shut off the engine and we counted dozens of porpoises surrounding the boat. They were pretty unconcerned by us and continued to surface. It was a pretty neat sight!

Wind picks up for San Juan Island sea kayak tour

2009-06-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for Friday, June 5th:

Joe returned from his 3 hour tour in high spirits today. Not only did he have fantastic guests that were ready to encounter anything that came their way, but they had a great time looking at the animals out there. Although they worked against strong winds to fast moving currents, their upbeat attitudes ensured that everyone had a good time.

They were rewarded with up close wildlife encounters including sea birds, bald eagles and of course, our local harbor seals. Joe said the highlight was the two seals that were playing near the surface as at one point they came to within 10 feet of the boats and stayed for 5 minutes simply swimming around.

Harlequin ducks surface and dive in unison

2009-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 4th:

This morning I saw out a large group of Harlequin ducks feeding out on the calm water. While they're a common sight on our sea kayak tours, this was the first time I'd seen so many grouped together while swimming. I watched for a few minutes and saw the dozen birds all diving and surfacing in unison; using their large numbers to corral and cooperatively hunt their prey.

Stand Up Paddle boards are a hit!

2009-06-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island fun update for June 3rd:

All of us here at San Juan Outfitters been having a ton of fun trying out our new equipment for rent-- a funky pedal-powered kayak and some paddle boards.

Our pedal-powered boat is really cute and colorful, with a bright teal sunshade. The two front seats have pedals, while the back seats are just for relaxing! There's also storage space both in the bow and stern. It's a great choice for families and groups of friends who want to tour the harbor and protected shores of the area in a low-key way, without getting too tired or wet.

The Stand Up Paddle boards (SUPs) are the new big thing to hit the U.S.. It's an emerging sport with roots in Polynesian culture, and SJO is excited to be bringing this new sport to San Juan Island. SUPs are essentially large surfboards upon which a paddler stands while using one single paddle to move around. These wide boards are extremely stable and their grippy surface allows for a super secure stance while you paddle. On these you can chill out and take it easy, or speed things up to get a great core and leg workout.

Of course we're still pleased to be renting out our sit-on-top (recreational) kayaks as well, so we're confidant that whatever your fancy, we've got something fun to suit your needs!

Seals and porpoises make some appearances for San Juan Island sea kayak tour

2009-06-02T19:57:00.001-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 2nd:

This afternoon I paddled out with Doug & Debra from Idaho, and they brought luck with them. We saw a ton of wildlife, and the weather was fantastic to boot. All throughout the 5 hour paddle we saw and heard male harbor seals slapping the surface of the water, but it was in the bull kelp bed off of McCracken Point that we could see them up close. These seals were launching almost their whole bodies out of the water and coming down with a resounding splash. It was impressive to see such displays and in such detail.
The other highlight of the day was seeing harbor porpoises. At one point we saw a few slowly slipping in and out of the water feeding. It was such a calm, perfect day that we could see their outlines perfectly. Later as we rounded Kellett Bluffs another harbor porpoise surfaced just a dozen feet or so away from my kayak!

I think the seals must have liked Doug, because on our way home a lone harbor seal popped up repeatedly in front of, beside, between and behind our boats. It was exciting to guess where it'd appear next!

Harbor seals start slapping for San Juan Island sea kayak tour

2009-06-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

San Juan Island sea kayak wildlife update for June 1rst:

One one hand I can't believe it's already June 1rst and on the other, the absolutely stunning weather of the past week makes it feel like it should be August already.

This afternoon I paddled out on a special tour with two lovely ladies from Colorado. The water was as smooth as glass all around us, so we were able to see the antics of some seals from far off. A few males were out and about practicing their mating displays, so we got to hear the double flipper slap and see the big splashes from a ways away. It's always exciting to be able to see, identify and interpret animal behavior, and today was no exception.

While crossing to Pearl on our return, we saw a juvenile bald eagle on the beach defending its prey against two adults. As we got a little closer, the juvenile took off (while vocalizing loudly) and one of the adults swooped in while the other stood guard. What they ate I don't know, but it had lots of fur-- raccoon or mink, methinks.