Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/01/19 | 11:00 am

Happy Canada Day!! Today was absolutely gorgeous as the sun glistened high in the sky and warmed the Washington air.

Captain Pete and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor towards the north. Immediately, we received multiple reports of whales throughout the northern American Islands. Excited, we headed that direction.

Along the way, we stopped by White Rocks. Here, we saw so many seals! These harbor seals were literally laying on top of...

Olivia | June 28, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It is always nice to leave the dock with potential whale sightings in our range. We decided to boat right between Shaw and Lopez Island and cut through Obstruction Pass to pop out over by Cypress Island in the Rosario Strait. On our way over there we passed many Harbor Seals which provided us with good set up conservation on balance in the ecosystem and how we start to see an increase in Bigg’s Killer Whales when there is a spike in the...

Olivia | June 27, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Our morning trip out on M/V Kestrel definitely started off as an adventure as we were getting everyone suited up in the rain. Despite the June showers, we wore smiling faces as we set out to find the whales we received word about. We traveled north through the San Juan Channel and made a pit stop at Flattop Island to look at some Harbor Seals who were napping on the coastline. Things heated up fast as we then saw a bunch of Pigeon...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/13/19 | 12:00pm

Today started as a beautiful day in Friday Harbor! The sun was shining, and it truly felt like one of the first real summer day here in the San Juan Islands. Captain Sarah, Naturalist Erick, Naturalist Laura and I took our beautiful boat, the Sea Lion, out for a day of adventure! We were incredibly lucky to hear multiple reports of whales. So, we set out to find whales, excited for what the day had to offer.

We headed northeast through...

Naturalist Alexandria | M/V Sea Lion | June 11, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an awesome evening tour we had today!  We were with orcas earlier today for our noon tour, but had heard on the radio once we got back that the orcas we were had headed out of the area by the time we were ready for our sunset trip.  This is always possible, one time of day for a trip isn’t better than the other, but our whales here can swim over 100 miles in one day, so it is always possible that we have them for one...

Piper | 04/28/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | Noon

I'm back for another season on San Juan Island and what a great day to kick off the summer aboard the M/V Sea Lion! Captain Pete and I were onboard with a great group of folks today, the sun was shining bright, and the wind had relaxed after a very breezy Saturday. We started off the day with a report of orcas near Sucia Island so when we left Friday Harbor we headed north through San Juan Channel. Just before entering President Channel we...

Erick | Friday, March 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

On Friday, it was another beautiful sunny day that reminded us that spring is just around the corner for us! Captain Mike and I headed out with a great group up north to go see what we could find! We headed through San Juan Channel, then to Spring Pass, and through Presidents Channel. In Presidents Channel we got to see a lot of Harbor Porpoise. I sometimes call this area Porpoise alley. Harbor Porpoises are definitely our...

September 30- M/V Sea Lion- 12:00 pm

Today we left Friday Harbor with reports of some Bigg’s killer whales off the Northeastern shoreline of Orcas island.  We cruised that direction and stopped to see a bald eagles nest along the way.  We first got on scene and discovered that the particular family of orcas was the T49A’s.  We watched as the family hugged the shoreline looking for seals.  Eventually they found a good snack and we watched as they worked together to take down and eat...

Captain Gabe and I headed down to the docks on the busiest day of the year in Friday Harbor- 4th of July! Unfortunately, we had not heard of any whales in our area yet this morning. With smiles on our faces and high hopes, we gathered our guests and headed up the San Juan Channel to see what whales we would be able to find this busy day on the water! At least hoping to spot some majestic bald eagles on this United States Independence Day. As we approached Flat Top Island, we stopped...

Today we got to see a group of transient orca whales just north of San Juan Island.  On our way out of Friday Harbor we got a look at a swimming juvenile Steller’s sea lion.  We then continued to head out of the Harbor and went into Presidents channel where we came across the T137’s.  When we first got on scene the whales were all spread out and foraging for any tasty mammal snacks.  We watched as the whales were spread out but surfaced in unison.  We then got to see them alternate...