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Conservation & Environment

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Conservation & Environment

Hidden Toxins Threaten Orca Whales in the San Juan Islands

We are enjoying an excellent summer for whale-watching kayak tours in the San Juan Islands. We set a record for the most 80 degree days ever and orca whales have been very active – the perfect blend for Sea Quest guests! All three pods of the salmon-eating orca have been putting on consistent shows as

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Orca Whale Spyhops to Examine a Kayak Tour
Conservation & Environment

Orca Whales Return to Kayaking Routes along San Juan Island, Washington

We’ve been enjoying numerous whale watching encounters on our kayak tours in the San Juan Islands since the orca whales of L-pod returned this month. Local whale biologists have gotten a full set of identification photographs for the entire clan and have determined that two orcas did not survive the winter after they left the

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Conservation & Environment

Orca Whale Darting Begins Badly in the San Juan Islands of Washington

Our last blog entry discussed the dangers from a new study that involves dart tagging the resident orca whales in Washington – the same friendly orcas we enjoy watching on our kayaking tours in the San Juan Islands. Despite widespread criticism, the NOAA research team darted the first orca whale on February 20. The target

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Conservation & Environment

San Juan Islands Killer Whales at Risk to New Invasive Darting Study

A new orca whale research project for the San Juan Islands of Washington has just been approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the infamous federal agency known for constantly blocking protections for marine mammals or bungling their conservation management. This study will directly impact the killer whales we enjoy observing on our San Juan

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salmon orca
Conservation & Environment

Salmon Plan Threatens Orca Whales in the San Juan Islands

The federal government’s new plan to save salmon in Washington appears to be the typical politically-influenced poppycock that we’ve come to expect from the agencies in charge of saving salmon, orca whales, and our oceans. An intelligent salmon management plan for the Columbia River is critical to saving the threatened killer whales of the San

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Conservation & Environment

Orca Whales in San Juan Islands Threatened by Increased Navy Sonar

While super quiet sea kayaks are now accused of being a threat to orca whales in the San Juan Islands by a misguided and misinformed National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the same agency remains silent about the US Navy plans to increase ocean warfare training and testing of new sonar devices in the killer whales’

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humpbacks and herring
Conservation & Environment

Fates Entangled – Humpback Whales and Herring in our Kayaking Waters

Here is a fishy tale of two species at the opposite end of the biological spectrum: a giant on the rise, and a tiny sliver of silver quickly becoming extinguished. The humpback whale’s recovery from near extinction is a heartening success story. Many whale biologists believe their population is now at 10% of historical levels,

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grey whale deaths
Conservation & Environment

More Gray Whale Deaths Noted in Washington’s Salish Sea

A total of five gray whales have perished in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands over the last ten days, and all seem to have died from starvation. As we mentioned in a previous blog entry, this spate of gray whale deaths in Washington is not unusual. Large die-offs have occurred before, most recently

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gray whale deaths
Conservation & Environment

Spring Gray Whale Watching & Deaths in Puget Sound, Washington

Each spring around 20,000 gray whales migrate north from Mexico along the Pacific coast of Washington. Perhaps 1% of these, around 200 gray whales will enter the inland waters of the Salish Sea and the San Juan Islands, treating kayaking trip participants to some amazing whale watching encounters. Only a dozen or so gray whales

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GRAY WHALES KILLED BY ORCAS NEAR SEATTLE
Conservation & Environment

Gray Whales Killed by Orcas near Seattle, Washington?

Seven gray whales have been observed from the northern Puget Sound up to the San Juan islands this spring, entertaining those lucky enough to find them while kayaking in Washington. Sadly, a very young and malnourished gray whale beached itself this past week in Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington. At first, people thought that killer

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Long-tailed-Duck
Conservation & Environment

Oldsquaws Seen on San Juan Islands Kayak Tours

“Oldsquaw” is a word that may catch a few eyes in this age of political correctness, just as the bird with this name did on our sea kayak tours this week in the San Juan Islands. Oldsquaw is the original American name for the long-tailed duck, a sea duck that nests circumpolar in the arctic

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killer-whale-birth-san-juan-islands
Conservation & Environment

Killer Whale Birth in San Juan Islands – Population Highest in 5 Years

The latest confirmed birth, recorded on February 21 in L-pod, brings the “southern resident” killer whale community population up to 89 whales. Their population, believed to have been historically in the high 100s, was cut in half or worse by captures for marine parks, which ended in the 1970s. Pollution and declining salmon populations then

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CAPTIVE ORCA WHALES RELEASED
Conservation & Environment

San Juan Islands Kayak Tour Guides Want Captive Orca Whales Released

 Sea Quest Kayak Tours guides call for all aquariums to release their captive orca whales back into the wild. Having considered the scientific facts, studied the orca whales firsthand for several decades on our sea kayak tours in the San Juan Islands, and using our accumulated knowledge as scientists, educators, and naturalists, we find the

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ORCAS-WHALES-ARE-TWO-SPECIES
Conservation & Environment

Orcas Whales are Two Species & Only One is a “Killer”

Unknown to most whale watchers and kayak tour participants, killer whales in the San Juan Islands occur in two very different species. The two orca whale species in Washington are currently known as “Resident Killer Whales” and “Transient Killer Whales” until better names are decided on. Both species of orca whales in the San Juans

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New-Born-Orca-Jpod
Conservation & Environment

Another New Baby Orca in the San Juan Islands!

The first baby orca of 2010 has been born to J pod on January 3, boosting an endangered population of killer whales that needs every birth it can get. The orca calf’s mother is only 12 years old, raising concern for the survival of both the mother and her calf. Killer whales don’t usually become

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NO MORE KAYAKING WITH ORCA WHALES
Conservation & Environment

No More Kayaking with Orca Whales?!

Amazingly enough, the National Marine Fisheries Service has a plan to ban kayaking on the west side of San Juan Island in the heart of the orca whale watching zone. Without the backing of any scientific studies that show kayaking with killer whales has any negative effect on the orcas, NMFS was planning to shut

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JUMBO-SQUID-INVADING-WASHINGTON
Conservation & Environment

Jumbo Squid Invading Washington Good or Bad for Orca Whales?

Jumbo Squid, also called Humboldt Squid, are invading Washington’s Salish Sea and their effects on orca whales is being questioned. These swift predators grow 7 feet long, live in huge schools, and could have a major impact on the San Juan Islands’ orca whales if they become permanently established. The “Diablo Rojo” eats everything from

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Killer Whales Photographed Attacking Sharks

Amazing photographs taken by Ingrid Visser of killer whales attacking and killing a mako shark have recently been published. Although Ingrid’s studies take place in New Zealand, the hunting techniques she describes are very similar to those used by killer whales pursuing seals in the San Juan Islands of Washington: cooperative herding, surpise attacks, and

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SALMON RECOVERY PROJECTS WILL BENEFIT ORCA
Conservation & Environment

San Juan Islands Salmon Recovery Projects Will Benefit Orca Whales

A total of seven different local organizations will receive more than $1.4 million in funding to improve salmon habitat in the San Juan Islands of Washington, our main sea kayaking base. This is great news for our orca whales as their most important food source are salmon, especially locally bred chinook. All five species of

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beluga whale
Conservation & Environment

Endangered Alaska Whales Gain Habitat Protection

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) took an important step toward protecting critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for the Cook Inlet beluga whale in Alaska by proposing to designate more than 3,000 square miles of the threatened whale’s habitat for protection. In October 2008 NMFS listed the Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered

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Garbage Island in the Pacific Ocean
Conservation & Environment

Former Kayak Tour Guide Warns of Garbage Island in the Pacific Ocean

An island of floating plastic garbage twice the size of Texas is trapped within the current gyre in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean. The trash originated from countries that ring the Pacific and is continuing to grow in size. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation has been studying the phenomenon for over a decade.

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