Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/23/19 | 11:00am
 

The day started with clouds floating low in the sky. It wasn’t the typical overcast but somehow much more beautiful as they hid the distant mountains. Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel.

We sped towards this beautiful island called Flattop and stopped along its shoreline. Here we found a bald eagle perched high in a tree, its white head glowing in the light. Then we saw...

Laura C. | 6-22-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

The 5:30pm whale watch was gorgeous!  We headed north aboard M/V Sea Lion and were ecstatic to find two families traveling together near Patos Island, T36As and T65As!  There was no mistaking the large teenage male of the T65A family as he cruised along with his mother and siblings.  The calf seemed very energetic this evening and may have been excited to be a part of a special social gathering with another family.  Watching the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/21/19 | 12:00pm

The sun shone high in the sky on this lovely Friday in Friday Harbor! Almost immediately, the crew received reports of whales not too far away, so everyone got really excited.

Captain Pete, Naturalist Erin and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of the harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. Passing between San Juan and Lopez, we boated past Cattle Point lighthouse, a beautiful southern point to our island. Then, we turned...

Laura C. | 6-21-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was a gorgeous day aboard M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe leading our voyage!  We headed south and were lucky right off the bat, finding harbor seals, Steller’s sea lions and a pair of bald eagles all sharing some small rocky islands right near San Juan Island.  We all were able to appreciate the sheer size of a hefty male sea lion as he shimmied his way towards the edge of the rocks, surrounded by basking females.  The harbor seals...

Laura C. | 6-21-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was a gorgeous day aboard M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe leading our voyage!  We headed south and were lucky right off the bat, finding harbor seals, Steller’s sea lions and a pair of bald eagles all sharing some small rocky islands right near San Juan Island.  We all were able to appreciate the sheer size of a hefty male sea lion as he shimmied his way towards the edge of the rocks, surrounded by basking females.  The harbor seals...

Laura C.| 6-20-19 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a spectacular day out on the water!  We traveled south through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point and our first marine mammal encounters consisted of Steller’s sea lions!  It was so exciting to get some up close and personal looks at these charismatic creatures basking in the sun and jumping in and out of the cool water.  There were a couple of massive males present on the rocks as well!  These sea lions were quite active today and...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/17/19 | 12:00pm

What an unbelievably special day out on the water! The sun was shining brightly in the sky and filled everyone with excitement immediately. Captain Erick, naturalist Piper and I took our largest boat, the M/V Sealion out of Friday harbor towards promising prospects up north. We went up through the San Juan Channel, past Flattop Island and into Boundary Pass.

With Canada in the distance, we spotted our whales off the north point of Stuart...

Olivia | June 17, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

This chilly day on the water turned out to be awfully spectacular.  We received word about a possible Killer Whale sighting near Waldron Island that was heading north. On route to follow this hint, we stopped near Spieden Island and saw 4 Bald Eagles and continued through John’s Pass to view heaps of Harbor Seals. Being a very low tide today, there were plenty of small, rocky islands for these tiny Pinnipeds to roost on while they laid...

Olivia | June 16, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 3:00pm 

What an incredible adventure Captain Gabe and I had out on the water today! For our 11:00am tour we headed north around Spieden Island where we viewed many Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles. We didn’t hang out too long, as we wanted to continue towards our whale sightings. As we traveled through Swanson Channel near Moresby Island, we caught our first glimpse of a lone male Bigg’s Killer Whale known as T77A who is often seen...

Laura | Saturday June 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12pm/ 5:30pm

Today was a wonderful day out on the water aboard M/V Sea Lion!  We first found a large congregation of harbor seals hauled out along the rocks of the east side of Flat Top, one of the nearby islands along the San Juan Channel.  Some of these seals were jumping in the water and a few came close by our vessel to check out the passenger!  The seas were so calm today we were able to view a bunch of jellyfish looking down from...