June 11 – Outdoor Odysseys employees took a few hours to explore the tidepools of Ruben Tarte with Geneva Mottet, a marine invertebrates geek who served as our guide for the day.  Geneva brought us some handouts with her own illustrations of local creatures we anticipated finding, and she led us through the slippery-slimy boulders of a perfect low tide.  We soon discovered that there’s a lot to be found under the seaweed and cobble…

Blood Stars delight me…it’s such a joy to lift up a wad of mucky green sea lettuce and find a tiny, bright red sea star!

We all reached under rocks, grasped at small crabs, and shrieked with delight at the discovery of brightly-colored invertebrates amid the green sea lettuce slime.  This juvenile Red Rock crab puzzled us and I was later able to identify it from some field ID cards I picked up at the Whale Museum.

Ochre stars, I found, can be yellow, purple, or a combination of the two like this one!

I think I actually squealed upon discovering this Christmas anemone…I’ve never seen such a brilliant, striped anemone as this one.  I only hope to see one in all of it’s colorful glory underwater one day.

This one is possibly the Northern red anemone (Urticina crassicornis) but it’s hard to tell…it was hiding in a small tidepool-crevice under some boulders.

Barnacles are plentiful here, and we have all different kinds!  Here are a few:

Colonial anemones are plentiful here too…and are found in a wide array of colors.

Limpets are usually attached securely to the substrate they’ve chosen, but we managed to pry this one off of a boulder without harming it.  It’s easy to see why they can suction so well…

Moon jellies don’t live in tidepools, but they are often found washed up ashore in rocky intertidal areas such as Ruben Tarte. This particular one had been beaten up by waves crashing it on shore and its tentacles were long gone, so we were able to hold it without being stung.

That was a small taste of the incredible tidepool life that can be found on San Juan Island…more to come later!

The 2010 Outdoor Odysseys 3-day staff training trip took place June 7, 8, and 9.  We were a small, but loveable team of newbies: Sara Hocheder and myself brought female energy into the group, while Will Bingaman, Tony Anderson, West Howland, and Tom Murphy supplied plenty of male energy.  Monday morning we conquered gear packing and meal planning at the Cliff House, then we all attended the grocery-shopping extravaganza.  We followed Tom – a 6^th year guide, and our trainer for this trip – around Marketplace learning which ingredients are commonly purchased and how to guesstimate quantities needed.  Taking care to use no plastic bags, we loaded up our purchases into a few coolers, and we were off to begin our trip!

Our launch from San Juan County Park was uneventful, although exciting for myself…I fit much more gear into the small Wilderness Systems Tempest 165 than I ever dreamed would be possible!  We launched after eating lunch on the beach, soaking up the sunshine.  Vinnie, the park’s black & white cat, sat on the sun-bleached logs with us and watched – I presume enviously – as we ate our sandwiches and cookies.  The water was choppy in Haro Straight as we headed northward, but we had a strong flowing tide in our favor, and we rode the swells with ease.  Our fleet was one double kayak and four singles.  We bypassed the entrance to Mosquito Pass and hugged the coast as we continued around Kellet Bluff.  Our rest stop was a small smooth-pebbled cove on the NW side of Henry Island, and we took some time to orient ourselves while snacking and stretching.

We hit the water for our Spieden Channel crossing just as slack tide was changing to an ebb, and we pushed hard against the currents.  About half-way through our crossing to Stuart Island we spotted orcas up ahead!  We rafted up and watched as two orcas, an adult male and a calf, swam southward right past us – and there were no whale-watching boats in sight!  At the entrance to Reid Harbor I noticed little Moon jellies floating around in the still water, Canada geese ashore honking at us, and the quietness that enveloped us as yachters cut their engines and glided past. Bald eagles and Osprey soared above; we stopped to observe an Osprey actively hunting then finally catching its fish dinner.  Almost there!

The campsites at the head of Reid Harbor were all full, and so we opted to pull our kayaks up onto a floating dock and carry our gear up to a beautiful campsite on the ridge between Reid Harbor and Prevost harbor. We were the only group camped on the ridge, and it felt like we had all of Stuart Island State Park to ourselves. With a little help from the newbies chopping veggies, Tom Murphy cooked up a colorful stir-fry that was enjoyed by all.  A lot of laughs and a few bottles of wine later we all settled into our sleeping bags for the night.

Breakfast in the morning consisted of a beautiful dutch-oven frittata filled with asparagus, onions, and goat cheese…quite a treat for those of us accustomed to oatmeal, oatmeal, and more oatmeal on camping trips!

Rather than the standard day-paddle circumnavigation of Stuart Island, the six of us opted to do a day-hike and explore the island.  Across the ridge we picked up a trail overlooking Prevost Harbor, and we followed it up till we had a great view of Reid Harbor.  From there we journeyed down to the head of Reid Harbor to check out the campsites and beach, then onwards we went, up the island’s main road and past the famed Stuart Island one-room schoolhouse.  The road took us past cows, horses, meadows, ravines, some crazy walls of conglomerate, and tons of very aromatic skunk cabbage.  Most of Stuart is densely forested with Douglas firs and Madronas, all competing for sunlight at the top of the canopy…it’s a beautiful place to wander around.

We ended up at Turn Point – a.k.a. Lover’s Leap – where we sat on the bluff, ate freshly prepared Greek salad wraps, debated the identification of various birds flying around us, and basked in the warm sunshine.  A short hike from the bluff got us down to the Turn Point Lighthouse where we enjoyed some great views of the “turning point” where Boundary Pass and Haro Strait meet.

Back at camp we enjoyed hors d’oeuvres of white wine with smoked salmon and crackers, and engaged in a fun game of rope golf that West brought along.  We helped Tom put together the Outdoor Odysseys signature “smoked salmon pesto penne” meal…drool…soooo yummy!  After we didn’t think we could eat another bite, the dutch-oven apple crisp was unveiled…and almost entirely devoured.  We stayed warm and dry under tarps and tents, listening to the pitter-patter of light rain overnight.

Rested up for our 13-mile paddle home, we greeted the morning with healthy consumption of coffee, orange juice, fresh & hot pancakes, and real maple syrup.  We launched from Reid Harbor around 10am with very full bellies and checked out some Osprey nests on the left-hand shore.  Further along, at the mouth of the harbor, there were two bald eagles eating the remnants of a sheep carcass at the high tide line.  We floated past, silently, our paddle blades cautiously held out of the water.  The eagles remained intent upon eating their meal, but somehow never seemed to take their eyes off of us.  I’ve never observed eagles from such a close distance, and I floated along in awe of their size.

While crossing Spieden Channel I experienced rip currents for the first time. I was simply amazed to see currents not unlike river rapids in the middle of an ocean channel…and then amused to watch each person in our group get spun and pushed around as we crossed through the strong tidal currents.  Posey Island State Park was our lunch destination, and mango-tempeh-red cabbage wraps were prepared immediately.  The food is really colorful around here, I’m noticing.  An ochre sea star caught my attention on the shoreline where it was deposited by the last ebb…stunning.

With the tide now flowing, we knew we needed to get back in the water and fight it, so we packed up, entered Mosquito Pass and did just that.  There was a little “treadmilling” here and there, and strenuous paddling at all times, and soon we found ourselves back on the west side of San Juan Island.  Smallpox Bay was a welcome sight after a few hours’ hard work…and our staff trip came to a close.  May I go back soon, please?

We had a nice mention (and great photo!) in the current May issue of Sunset Magazine. They ran a four page “Insider’s Guide to the San Juan Islands” and we had the good fortune to be mentioned on page 78. (If you look closely the paddler in the back of the kayak is my wife, Libs!)

The photo was taken just as we were leaving San Juan County Park on the West side of San Juan Island. We launch all our 1, 3 and 4 day tours from the county park as it is the best place in the San Juan Islands to see whales.

“To try for an eye-level orca sighting, Outdoor Odysseys is genuinely one of the greatest beginner’s kayaking experiences you’ll find anywhere: Orcas aren’t absolutely guaranteed but are likely.”

http://www.sunset.com/travel/northwest/san-juan-islands-travel-00418000067427/

Outdoor Odysseys is a 2009 recipient of National Geographic Adventure Travel Magazine’s “200 Best Adventure Travel” Outfitter’s Award. We have been offering quality hand-crafted kayak tours in the San Juan Islands of Washington for 23
years. www.outdoorodysseys.com

Pacific smelt, a small silvery fish also known as eulachon or candlefish, has been listed by NOAA as a threatened species due to declining populations.

Pacific smelt was a staple of the Northwest American Indian tribes when the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived on the west coast in 1806. Lewis was impressed enough with smelt as a food source while spending the winter on the Oregon coast that he drew a picture of the fish in his journal.

Historically, their numbers were so abundant one could literally ‘rake’ them out of the rivers. Times have changed. “The tribe just had its annual eulachon ceremony a few weeks ago and there were none for us to dip. Our nets were empty,” Taylor Aalvik, director of the Cowlitz tribe’s Natural Resources Department, said in a statement.

There are two distinct populations of smelt in the Pacific Ocean. The endangered population ranges from the Mad River in Northern California to the Skeena River in British Columbia. Similar to salmon, they lay their eggs in rivers and then spend the rest of their lives in the ocean. The second population is found in Alaska and the Bering Sea.

Reasons for the decline include shrimp fishing (caught as bi-catch), decreased water flows in rivers, reductions in zooplankton (food for smelt) and global warming. The effect of declining numbers of Pacific smelt is unclear. The concern is that it will impact birds, fish and other creatures higher up in the food chain. Current salmon restoration efforts should help the beleaguered smelt populations by reducing the amount of silt in rivers where they deposit their eggs.

Join Outdoor Odysseys Kayak Tours www.outdoorodysseys.com for guided one to six day tours in the San Juan Islands near Seattle, Washington

One reason people enjoy kayaking the San Juan Islands and visiting the Northwest is due in part to the beauty of the lush, verdant forests in our region. Not only do these forests provide valuable habitat and recreational opportunities, but they also play a major role in combating climate change by storing carbon.

In a recent analysis released by the Wilderness Society, the top 10 national forests for storing green house gases in the United States are in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska. The Olympic National Forest tied with Umpqua National Forest in Oregon as the second-best carbon bank of all the 120 national forests in the country, according to the report. Willamette National Forest in Oregon was No. 1, and Gifford Pinchot Forest in southwest Washington ranked fourth.

Mike Anderson, a Wilderness Society senior resource analyst and a co-author of the report, explained that the region’s mature trees, abundant moisture, productive soils, long growing season and relative lack of forest fire all contribute to the high carbon density in the national forests. This study found that the trees and soil in the national forests in Washington, Oregon, and southeast Alaska store about 9.8 billion metric tons of carbon. In comparison, one year of fossil fuel burned in the United States contains 5.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The report goes on to explain the importance of ensuring that these areas are protected from being over harvested. Some 60 percent of the carbon stored in a tree leaks out when it is harvested, and globally, about 20 percent of all recent, human-caused greenhouse-gas emissions can be traced to deforestation.

So the next time you walk through a forest, make sure you hug a tree for making our air cleaner! Maybe that’s where the term “tree hugger” comes from, no?

Join Outdoor Odysseys for fun, natural history oriented kayak tours in the sunny San Juan Islands of Washington State.

In developing countries where clean drinking water is hard to come by, bottled water may be the only option. Here in the United States, however, bottled water has more negatives than positives. Here are some facts about bottled water:

• $100 billion is spent every year on bottled water globally

• The US goes through about 50 billion bottles a year, and most of those bottles end up in the landfills instead of being recycled (Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It by Elizabeth Royte)

• Groundwater pumping by bottled water companies draws heavily on underground aquifers and harms watersheds (Sierra Club)

• Bottled water companies gain high profits by drawing water from public water sources and turning around and reselling it for 2,900 times the price as regular tap water (Columbia Water Center at Columbia University’s Earth Institute in New York)

• Bottled water is more expensive and is likely no safer or cleaner than tap water

• Transporting the bottles and keeping them cold burns fossil fuels

Does it really make sense to drink bottled water? In September 2009, the city of Bundanoon in Australia was the first in the world to ban bottled water from the shelves of stores and installed water fountains around the city instead. Some cities  in the United States, such as San Francisco and Seattle have joined the band wagon too. These cities no longer buy water for city use. Some restaurants in these cities have gone to filtered tap water instead of bottled water.

An easy solution for the rest of us is to buy a reusable water bottle and fill it up with filtered tap water though out the day. It saves money and is much more environmentally friendly.

Join us on our San Juan kayaking and whale watch tours…

Scientists and researchers have discovered that as plastic breaks down and decomposes it may be releasing toxic substances that are not commonly found in the natural environment. Most scientists thought the primary danger of plastic in the ecosystem involves the choking or strangling of wildlife. As the owner of Outdoor Odysseys Kayak Tours and a concerned environmentalist who lives and  works summers in the San Juan Islands, I know from firsthand experience that the islands are not immune to the problems of plastic and other forms of garbage littering our beaches and impacting the wildlife.

New research suggests that as plastic decomposes when exposed to water, salt, sun and other environmental conditions it releases toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A or polystyrene oligomers. Styrofoam has been found to release substantial quantities of a compound called styrene monomer which is known to cause cancer.

The use of plastic is ubiquitous in our culture and is transported down our rivers and streams which enter into the Atlantic, Pacific or Caribbean. Sea going vessels have reported vast areas of ocean garbage estimated to be twice the size of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Pacific. These floating “dead zones” should serve as a wake-up call for all of us.

What can we as individuals do to help solve this growing problem that has such deadly implications for marine life? On our day and overnight kayaking tours in the San Juan Islands our guides (and guests) make every effort to pick up trash and leave our beaches cleaner than when we arrived.

Here are a few other things to embrace…

• When you shop bring your own bags so you avoid taking home plastic bags from the store.
• Avoid buying bottled water.
• Purchase  goods with an eye towards their ‘useable life.’ If the product will need to be replaced in a year or two perhaps it is worth paying for something that will last longer.
• Pick up litter when you are outside walking your dog or going to the store.
• Get Outdoors! Disengaging from technology and getting outside to embrace the wind, sunsets and bird sounds does wonders for the psyche!

New Births for the Resident San Juan Islands’ Orca Whales!

In a little over a year, things have gone from bleak to “more promising” for the Northwest’s endangered killer whales. The Center For Whale Research says that in 2008, eight Orcas in the three pods, J, K, and L, that make up the southern resident population in Washington and southwest British Columbia went missing and were presumed dead.  This included two females of reproductive age and the 98-year-old- matriarch of K Pod. Among the three pods there was only one surviving birth that year. This dropped the total of the J, K and L pods to 82 as of December 2008.

This past year, these pods have bounced back with six new babies and one new baby in 2010 bringing their population up to 89 whales. Experts think this increase might be the result of a good salmon run year. “We’re all very happy to see so many births,” said Susan Berta of the Whidbey Island-based Orca Network. “We’re all hoping that they find lots of fish to keep them healthy and keep the mothers in good condition so they can feed the calves,” she said. The diet of the southern resident whales consists of primarily (about 80 %)  Chinook salmon. Many of the Chinook salmon runs are also listed by the feds as either threatened or endangered depending on the river. The smaller the number of available salmon, the farther the Orcas have to forage for sustenance.

Even though this was a tremendous  year for the southern resident whale population it does not mean they are in full recovery mode. Other threats to their health need to be addressed such as cleaning up the marine environment and eliminating toxic chemicals in the waters that are stored in the whales’ bodies. Hopefully with our help these animals can truly be on the road to recovery.

Join Outdoor Odysseys this summer as we kayak and explore the San Juan Islands and, with a bit of luck, observe  these magnificent animals!