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 "My children and I had
an incredible experience sea kayaking off San Juan Island with the
assistance of a Sea Quest biologist named Mark Lewis. He facilitated one of the most significant days of my
life in the last 15 years. My children, 12 and 15, were also deeply impacted by fantastic whale encounter and the guide's
willingness to share his knowledge."
Jocelyn Castillo, Idaho
Meet Sea Kayak Guide & Biologist Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis is one of the original founders of
Sea Quest Expeditions
and Zoetic Research. Mark was a freelance biologist, guide,
photographer, author and lecturer for several years before embarking on
the creation of our present organization in 1989. He now has twenty-three
years of professional sea kayak guiding experience and is our senior
guide instructor. See him performing an impromptu Eskimo roll below.
 Mark is well known as the ornithological authority in the San Juan
Islands of Washington state as he is the senior author of a
bird guide book for the region. He has also done research on marine
mammals such as harbor seals and minke whales while a research associate of
The Whale Museum. Mark also taught various upper and lower level classes at Skagit Valley College,
including "Seabird Ecology" and "Whale School".
Mark's first kayak trip took place in Mexico at the tender age of 19 and he knew immediately that his life was changed from that
moment forward. Since then, he has led sea kayaking expeditions in
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Hatteras, Lake Superior, Lake Huron,
Lake Michigan, the Inside Passage of Alaska, British Columbia's Gulf
Islands and Johnstone Strait, Baja California, the tropical coast of
Mexico's Jalisco state,
Costa Rica, and the Barrier Reef of Belize.
 Mark has resided for
26 years on San Juan Island in the heart of orca waters. His recent
projects have included re-establishing Purple Martins as a breeding
species in the San Juan Islands, and protecting oak woodlands and
associated wildflower meadows with concerned local landowners and
support from the Department of Agriculture.
When off-duty, Mark is usually accompanied by the Sea Quest four-footed
mascot Kayla, a rare breed of canine called the Orca Hound, partly
because of her incredibly acute nose for orca spoor and some dubious
efforts at cross-species breeding (note the orca-like pigment pattern)
performed several generations ago. Although she was born with fins,
these fell off as she grew, yet she is still a gifted swimmer and will
dive underwater to retrieve her precious frisbee.
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