Alexandria | Saturday, June 1, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM 

What a beautiful evening!  The sun was shining, our group was ready to get on the water, and water was beautiful and glassy- it was the perfect beginning to our sunset evening Class Whale Watch.

We boarded M/V Sea Lion, excited about such gorgeous weather and ready to explore the area to see what we could find.  We started heading north out of Friday Harbor and headed up San Juan Channel.  As we were working our way up...

[Naturalist Sarah C. 8/24/17 M/V Sea Lion 1:30 Departure]

An itty bitty humpback has been spotted perusing the waters south of Lopez Island for three days in a row now. This little whale nubbin obviously favors his chosen location, and it's an unusual one for massive baleen whales like him to be spotted in, much less observed feeding in for days on end.

Adult humpbacks are generally 40 to 50 feet long, the same lenght as a school bus! Juveniles like this just-over-one-year-old whale are maybe 35...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 7/30/17, 5:30PM]

On Sunday, our sunset cruise was one of the most beautiful sunsets all summer. Captain Mike and I took our group of guests south in San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We first stopped and saw some adorable Harbor Seals hauled out on rocks along the shoreline of San Juan Island. These Pacific Harbor Seals are the most common marine mammals in these waters and stay here year-round. Even so, I still...

Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 07/13/2017, 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm Tour

Today was an incredible day on the water. M/V Sea Lion ran two tours out of Friday Harbor today, each with some spectacular sea and weather conditions and some great sightings of killer whales, harbor seals, bald eagles galore, and an exploration of some unique aspects of our marine ecosystem out here in the Salish Sea - like our amazing bull kelp forests and nutrient-dense waters. I've compiled and editted some of my favorite...

There are two ecotypes of killer whales that inhabit the Salish Sea throughout the year – the transients and the residents. Killer whale ecotypes are both genetically and behaviorally distinct, meaning they don’t interbreed, they have different behaviors, they speak different languages, and they look slightly different. The main distinguisher between transient and resident killer whales is their feeding habits. While transient killer whales feed on marine mammals, resident killer...

We pushed off from the dock today with a full boat, feeling chilly but hopeful. It wasn’t long before we got reports of humpbacks in Active Pass within the Southern Gulf Islands in Canada, so we headed north out of Friday Harbor hoping to get a look.

On our way out of San Juan Channel, we got some quick looks at some harbor seals and an adult bald eagle before we crossed into Canadian waters and heard some more good news – the pair of humpbacks we were approaching were Big Mama and...

Yesterday we were greeted by the happy news that there is yet another new calf in the endangered Southern Resident community of orcas, and the sixth born into the familial grouping known as J Pod.

NOAA scientists first observed a new calf travelling between J14 Samish and J37 Hy’Shqa on January 18th and confirmed the sighting yesterday. Right now there is no confirmation on which female is the mother, but that is not unusual as all females within a family will take an active role in...

Last night we were greeted with a happy confirmation from the Center from Whale Research, that our core staff here at San Juan Safaris had been hoping for since a staff jaunt out to San Juan Channel on December 1st.... A NEW CALF FOR J28 POLARIS!!

On December 1, with a report of whales right outside of the harbor, we quickly left the office and our post-season projects, jumped into the car, made our way down to the M/V Sea Lion, cut the lines, and were off! A group of J Pod whales...

Today October was showing it's true colors over the Salish Sea in the form of an incredibly serene mist that hung in the form of clouds over hilltops and muted all the normally seen colors. Not a breath of wind was felt on this classic Pacific Northwest morning in Friday Harbor, and Captain Mike and I were looking forward to taking our passengers out on the Sea Lion for this unique experience.

As we left the dock with a boat full of passengers ready to embrace the mystique of the...

A good day on the water is full of tough but ultimately great choices to make. Which whales to see? Southern Residents, Transients, maybe a Humpback Whale? Leaving port with Captain Mike at the helm, our weekend guests were excited for nature on the water.

Working our way North through President's Channel, we had the looming forested slopes of Turtleback to our Starboard and the slanting cliffs of Waldron to our left. It was another gorgeous day on the water, which Pacific...