From my experience, the best whale watching days occur in weather similar to today's: overcast and rainy. However, everyone was positive and optimistic that we would see whales. Well, not only did we see Orcas, we saw both ecotypes!

Our boat, the Sea Lion, headed north out of Friday Harbor towards East Point. Along the way we spotted some harbor seals as well as a juvenile bald eagle. Then, as we came across the north end of Orcas Island there was word that Transient killer whales...

We had an amazing day in the San Juan Islands. The rain held off, the seas were calm, and we saw Killer Whales! Upon leaving Friday Harbor we motored south along the east side of San Juan Island and made our first stop at Tern Island to view Harbor Seals hauled-out on the rocks. We continued south and stopped at Goose Island to see a number of bird species. We then traveled around to the south end of the San Juan Island and found the Resident Killer Whales about 2 miles southwest of...

Today we traveled north into Canadian waters and caught up with about 7 or 8 members of J-Pod just off Point Roberts; coordinates: 48°56.97N, 123°10.25W. As we arrived on the scene the whales were quite spread out allowing guests to look in every direction and see at least one or two. Other than San Juan Safaris, Western Prince was the only other American boat who had made the trek to see the return of the residents and man was it a show! A few members of the pod were Lobtailling and...

Harbor seals were taking advantage of the low tide today and were seen hauled out at a number of locations in the San Juan Islands. We counted 97 Harbor Seals at just one haul-out site along the west side of Waldron Island!

One mile northwest of Patos Island Lighthouse we were surrounded by Harbor Porpoise. These normally shy and elusive animals were busy foraging in this highly productive area.  Their behavior of surfacing frequently and changing directions provided excellent...

For a day where the weather forecast predicted rain, it was awfully sunny and calm in the San Juan Islands today! As we left Friday Harbor we stopped to view a California sea lion hauled out on a buoy right outside the  harbor. We then headed south towards Salmon Bank to look for minke whales since the water was like glass, the perfect condition for spotting minkes! But before getting there we were able to see harbor seals hauled out and in the water, double crested cormorants on...

Motoring out of the harbor a large, male California Sea Lion was conveniently hauled out on the channel buoy providing a great photo opportunity.  We then traveled north through the San Juan Channel where we found our first harbor seals of the day on the rocky shores of Jones Island State Park.  On Flattop Island a beautiful, mature bald eagle perched on the National Wildlife Refuge sign.  As we continued north we had another chance to view harbor seals resting on White Rock.  We...

Today we followed a similar route to yesterday’s trip. We headed north out of the San Juan Channel, past the west side of Waldron and out to Patos Island. About a half mile west of Patos we saw around 20 to 30 Harbor Porpoises milling in the rip tides. This appeared to be a great foraging area and it was very cool too see so many Harbor Porpoises together in one place. As we reached East Point we saw a similar set-up to yesterday with about 100 Harbor Seals hauled out on the left...

Upon departing the boat harbor we traveled north through the San Juan Channel to the west side of Waldren Island and into Boundary Pass. As we motored through Boundary Pass towards Patos Island, Captain Mike saw some splashing in the distance. Upon further investigation it was a Steller Sea Lion feeding on a fish. The Stellar Sea Lion surfaced with the fish in its mouth then forcefully tossed its head from side to side, flinging the fish and tearing bits off the carcass. We were all...

For today’s trip we headed south through the San Juan Channel in between Lopez and San Juan Island. Across from Cattle Point we reached our first hot spot for wildlife viewing. Here we found Harbor Seals one side of a small rocky island and Steller Sea Lions on the other. The Steller’s were fairly large and very photogenic today! We then moved on just around the south side of San Juan Island into more open water.

We didn’t have to go very far, about 500 yards, and we saw two Minke...

Minke whales are one of the most underrated cetacean species. No one ever says "let's go whale watching for minke's." But if you've had the opportunity to actually see a minke whale, you'd think they were not only beautiful animals, but pretty darn cool as well.

Well today we had that opportunity! We left Friday Harbor headed south towards Hine Bank. It was absolutely beautiful! Warm, sunny, and the ocean surface was as smooth as glass. Along the way we were able to see a large group...