Olivia | August 4th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Captain Erick, Co-Naturalist Jordan and I, along with our full boat of passengers, decided to head south for an opportunity to see some Bigg’s Killer Whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca south of Hein Bank. Along the route, our captain was thrilled about seeing heaps of Phalaropes! These small birds are not often seen this close to shore, and typically feed on plankton. One female breeds with multiple males and leaves them to raise...

Olivia | July 22nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Despite the beautiful sunshine, Olympic mountain range silhouetting the southern horizon, and Mount Baker proudly standing above the San Juan Islands, we ended up having fairly rough seas as we headed out on our adventure. We left Friday Harbor aware of two potential whale sightings, one very far north and moving further away, or another south near Whidbey Island where the swells were about 3-4 feet in some areas of our travel. Captain...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Saturday, July 6, 2019

Our afternoon trip on Kestrel today was dream-like! We left Friday Harbor and headed south toward Cattle Point! Once we arrived at Cattle Point, we got a beautiful view of the lighthouse, and then we swung past Whale Rocks. There were harbor seals hauled out on Whale Rocks, and some of them were swimming around in the water. We also saw 4 Steller's sea lions swimming around in the water. They were swimming altogether, and we got...

Olivia | June 29, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Sunset tours are always favored by the staff, and for good reason! Calm seas, gorgeous, golden sunset over the water, and Cattle Point Lighthouse silhouetted in the background- what’s not to love? We started off the tour heading south towards Salmon Bank where there were potential wildlife sightings. We saw heaps of Pigeon Guillemots, Auklets, Gulls, and Bald Eagles as we traveled down the San Juan Channel. We even saw a juvenile Bald...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an excellent sunset trip in the Salish Sea! We began our trip heading northeast out of Friday Harbor. We knew there were whales near East Sound on Orcas Island, so we went to investigate to see if we could find them. On our way there, we traversed through some smaller islands and got some amazing views. We were also lucky because the rain subsided and the sun was starting to shine when we left the harbor! We made it to...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, June 25, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an amazing trip it was aboard the M/V Sea Lion this evening. The weather was absolutely beautiful. The water was smooth and the sun was shining bright. We left Friday Harbor and headed south toward Cattle Point, back toward the area where we had seen orcas on our previous tour. We had received some reports that those same orcas were travelling toward another pod of orcas! When we got to Cattle Point, we got some amazing...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, June 14, 2019 | 12:00 PM

What a fantastic afternoon out in the Salish Sea! It began with humpback whales directly outside of Friday Harbor. We headed a couple of minutes south before seeing two humpback whales. They were diving at the same time and coming up to the surface at the same time. We got to see both of their flukes come up out of the water, and the whales were identified as Heather and Raptor, who are two female humpback whales. After seeing...

Olivia | June 10, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was incredibly gorgeous; sunny and 70! We received word of whale sightings south of San Juan Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so we decided to head down there, admiring Cattle Point Lighthouse as we entered the large body of water. Not far south of San Juan we slowed down when we were suddenly surrounded by Harbor Porpoises! I love stumbling along big feeding frenzies when they are primarily solitary animals. This was in a...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, June 7, 2019 | 12:00 PM

What a phenomenal day it was out in the Salish Sea! We saw so many different types of wildlife, and the sun decided to show itself as well! We began our trip heading south toward Cattle Point. When we got to Cattle Point, we got some great views of Cattle Point lighthouse. Then we attracted our attention toward Whale Rocks, where there were Steller’s sea lions hauled out on the rocks and swimming in the water around them. There...

Olivia | May 29th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today was one of the best encounters I have had this season. Captain Gabe, Co- Naturalist Jordan, and I decided it was best to head south through the San Juan Channel between San Juan and Lopez Islands. On route the find whales we stumbled across Harbor Seals! They are the world’s second smallest seal and so cute. They are Pinnipeds much like the Seal Lions, however, they cannot rotate their pelvis or hind flippers. Because of this...