louie

This past weekend, on our one day San Juan Islands kayak tour, we found an unusual jelly fish that we have never before encountered in this area on our kayaking trips. As you can see from the photo, it was stunningly beautiful with an amber bell, purple stinging tentacles, and pink oral tentacles. It was about 8 inches in diameter and 2 feet long. It turned out to be a type of true jelly in the class Scyphozoa, commonly called the sea nettle. Several other species of jellies are commonly called “sea nettle” so its important to know the scientific name for jellies to avoid this kind of confusion. Chrysaora fuscescens is common in coastal waters of California and Oregon, less so west to Japan, north to the Gulf of Alaska, and south to the Baja Peninsula. It usually reaches its greatest abundance in late summer or autumn and it one of the few jellies to survive well into the winter months. Chrysaora fuscescens does not often venture into inland waters like the San Juan Islands so far from the Pacific Ocean. But this would be the best season to find one, and this year especially so. That’s because some scientists suspect that its population is increasing due to human influences, such as excessive nitrogen from sewage and farms, and higher ocean temperatures. If true, this jelly may be having a negative impact on larval fishes such as salmon that are crucial to our eagles and orca whales. Chrysaora fuscescens can grow as large as 3 feet in diameter, although most are less than 1 foot across. The long, spiraling oral arms and the 24 tentacles may stretch far as 12 to 15 feet. It is commonly displayed at public aquariums because it is colorful and relatively easy to raise. It takes only 3 months to bring them from polyp to adult. Pain caused by its sting is similar to that of a bee sting or brushing across nettles and does not have serious effects except in those individuals who are sensitive to the toxin. The San Juan Islands are home to over 60 species of jelly fish with the greatest diversity present in spring. By summer, our waters are dominated by about 10 large species that have consumed all the smaller types! Some of our jellies glow at night making quite a spectacle on our bioluminescence night kayak tours. Join a San Juan Islands Kayak Tour & Enjoy Amazing Jelly Fish

Lonely Planet just created a list of the “World’s Top 10 Cycling Routes” and named the San Juan Islands to it. This is part of their series of “Best in Travel” lists, now available in book form. In addition to the San Juan Islands of Washington State, the list includes vacation locations in New Zealand, Canada, Italy, England, Australia, France, Ireland, Cuba and Vietnam. The San Juan Islands are described in the book: “The ferry….weaves it way calmly, the perfect introduction to the slow, peaceful character of these islands. Awaiting you are forested shorelines, secluded coves, bucolic vistas and quiet roads. The three largest islands, Lopez, Orcas and San Juan, each have their own distinctive charm, with historic sites and art galleries.”  The ferry route is Washington State’s newest Scenic Byway, recently named by the Society of American Travel Writers as the 4th best ferry ride in the world! Travel & Leisure Magazine surveryed their readers who ranked San Juan Island as the Top 5 Vacation Island in North America. Lonely Planet, is a major publisher of vacation travel guide books. Those of us at Sea Quest do a lot of traveling between kayaking tours and we are big fans as their authors do lots of local research. We are absolutely certain that when they create their list of “World’s Top 10 Kayaking Routes” that the San Juan Islands will get the nod again! Sea Quest is already recommended in many regional travel guides books for the San Juan Islands, Alaska and Baja that were published by the biggest player’s in this field: Fodor’s, Moon, Lonely Planet and many others. Join Sea Quest in the World’s Top Kayaking & Cycling Vacation Destination of the San Juan Islands, Washington!