Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/22/19 | 5:30pm

Today had a great start as Captain Sarah and I headed out of the harbor with only 8 people on the boat! There was definitely a nice amount of space for everyone to spread out and enjoy the evening!

We heard reports from up north of some whales! So, we booked it up north. We boated along the north shores of Speiden and Stuart Islands. We crossed Boundary Pass into Canadian waters and up towards the northern coast of North Pender Island. Then...

Laura C. | M/V Kestrel | 8/22/2019 | 11:00am, 3:00pm

It was an outstanding day aboard M/V Kestrel!  Captain Pete touched base with other whale-watching vessels in the area and received reports of two families of Bigg’s killer whales traveling northwest from Sidney Island to Satellite Channel!  Vessels already on scene identified them as the T34s and T37s.  There, we spent a large amount of time just being in the presence of these beautiful mammals.  It was easy to see how strong the...

Olivia | August 19th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

We had such an incredible morning trip that reassured us for an epic afternoon one as well! The T49A’s had traveled up and down the channel since we previously viewed them, and this time came right to Friday Harbor! We didn’t even have the chance to speed up and slowly motored under 7kts to go see them. We mentally prepared our passengers for one quick view before we left and came back later, wanting to reduce the number of vessels in...

Olivia | August 19th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

 The whales made our job look so easy today since there was absolutely no build up when we found them right out of Friday Harbor! The only thing we had a chance to see prior was a Bald Eagle soaring above the pines while I was giving my animal sighting chat to our passengers. The T49A’s were milling south in the San Juan Channel and we were able to view them for a wee bit before splitting off and checking out more wildlife. We do our...

Laura C. / M/V Sea Lion / 8/18/2019 / 1:30 pm

Today was an awesome trip aboard M/V Sea Lion!  The windy atmosphere produced a bustling Salish Sea, filled with waves and wildlife!  We headed towards Middle Bank and found J 16s moving southwest at about 7-8 knots!  The J16s are a three-generation matriline apart of J Pod, consisting of 6 matrilines!  Today, was watched this family of four cruising with the rolling seas!  We saw J26, aka “Mike”, sporting his tall dorsal fin and towering...

Olivia | August 17th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

If any of you have been reading my blogs, you know I have said this many times. The thing is, I’ve always meant it. It holds true to say- today was my favorite trip of the season. Yes, we all know wildlife is enchanting. You never know what you’re going to see, how active they will be, what the weather is doing, or even how your fellow passengers will respond. Today, however, hit the jackpot as Captain Erick, Co-Naturalist Laura and...

Olivia | August 15th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

My favorite trip thus far.

I cannot express the realm of emotions myself, Captain Gabe, and our 19 passengers went through on our 11:00am Adventure Tour. We heard reports early in the morning that our Southern Resident Killer Whales (J Pod) had returned to Haro Strait per Lime Kiln recording their dialect through the hydrophone. With a thick bank of fog south and west of San Juan Island, we decided to head around the northern side to...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/14/19 | 1:30pm

It was a magical minke whale day!

It began with Captain Pete, Naturalist Olivia and I heading out of Friday Harbor on the Sea Lion. We boated south down through the San Juan Channel and past Cattle Point lighthouse. We continued out towards the Salmon Bank, a very shallow body of water off the southern tip of San Juan Island. Here we saw something appear…

It was a minke whale! The big black back and crescent moon shaped dorsal fin emerged...

Laura C. | M/V Kestrel | 8/14/2019 | 11:00am

This morning’s adventure whale watch and wildlife tour was simply outstanding!  Captain Gabe directed our vessel, Kestrel, southbound towards Hein Bank.  This area is a great spot for wildlife viewing!  There are a few shallow banks south of San Juan Island, rising above the deeper sea floor to about 50 feet.  These areas tend to congregate dense amounts of small schooling fish along the ledges of the bank, where they prefer to reside near...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/13/19 |

Todays trips were amazing!

It all started as Gabe and I headed south down through the San Juan Channel. We boated towards Cattle Pass and saw the beautiful lighthouse off the southern tip of San Juan.

We then stopped by Whale Rocks and watched a bunch of sea lions! These massive animals lumbered around the island and barked at each other! It was so cool to watch them walking around and sleeping in the sun. So glad that these Steller sea lions are...