[7/5/17 ~ 2pm KL ~ Naturalist Sarah C ]

Transient killer whale sightings have been off the hook this season! And because their food source (harbor seals, porpoises, sea lions, and other whales) are so abundant and widespread here in the Salish Sea, these whales are also widespread and common. Sightings of transient orcas have taken us to almost every channel, strait, and pass in the San Juans, giving us beautiful and varying scenery along with excellent success in finding whales!

Tod...

7/3/17 - Sea Lion 1:30 & 5:30 PM Departure

Our pre-fourth of July celebration was exceptional!  The T49A’s hanging out Northwest of San Juan Island.   The T49A’s are made up of four whales, the matriarch and her three offspring.  We were lucky enough to see the whales feeding on both our afternoon and sunset tour.  The whales seemed rather relaxed throughout the day while continuing to feed, on what we would assume to be harbor seals.  Harbor seals make up about 60% of the diet of...

[7/4/17 ~ 1:30SL ~ Naturalist Sarah C ]

Happy Fourth of July! A huge event in Friday Harbor, the fourth is celebrated with parades, live music, barbecues, fireworks, and, of course, orcas! To make a beautiful sunny day even more perfect, our whale watch left the dock with multiple reports of orcas in the area, leaving us with a few spots to choose from. What a treat!

With our full boat of excited passengers decked out in their best red, white, and blue apparel, the Sea Lion set forth...

[7/4/17- M/V Kestrel- 2:00PM]

Happy Fourth of July, folks! The day started with a huge parade going down the main street of Friday Harbor, and then afterwards, a whale watch!

It was a scorcher today as M/V Kestrel darted out of the busy harbor in search of killer whales. Just to the north end of Lopez island, a short boat trek from San Juan Island, we immediately stopped for two bald eagles and their nest with a chick present. It was such an appropriate and patriotic way to start our...

[7/3/17 - M/V Kestrel - 2:00PM]  On July 3rd Captain Mike and I headed out with a full boat of great passengers aboard the M/V Kestrel to go look for some exciting wildlife! We headed south through San Juan Channel and first stopped at Shark Reef along the shore of Lopez Island to look at some hauled out Harbor Seals. Going in between Shark Reef and Lopez Island is going through a pretty skinny but ultimately pretty deep channel but it’s a cool experience seeing people hiking on...

07/02/17, Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris, 1:30 and 5:30 pm Tours

What a magical day of Bigg's Killer Whales! We encountered several different family pods on the east side of Orcas Island today, over in Rosario Strait. We enjoyed some breathtaking views of the T36's and a number of other Transients. My favorite part? Seeing the massive males rise up above the surface with their huge wavering dorsal fins. It's absolutely humbling. 

The whales were busy hunting and traveling on our...

[6/30/17- M/V Kestrel- 2:00PM]

It’s always nice to have options, particularly when whale watching. And today, we had several! With 3-4 groups of whales to choose from, we departed Friday Harbor on M/V Kestrel first in search of a group of transient killer whales in Garrison Bay, maybe a 5-10 minute boat ride from the harbor! We approached the scene to see about 5 orcas travelling and being a bit playful with tail-splashes, spyhopping, and cartwheeling, not very common behavior for...

(6/29/17 - Sea Lion 1:30 PM Departure)

You couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to be out on the water here in the San Juan’s.  We left the dock with reports of Southern Resident Killer Whales on the south side of San Juan Island, near False Bay.  We headed straight toward that report of whales and decided to look for other wildlife on the way back.  After a nice leisurely ride we made it to the whales.  Our guests were very enthusiastic about seeing the whales and getting...

[6/24 5:30 SL]

It's Pirate Days here in the San Juans! Folks stroll around town, flaunting their best pirate attire, skull-and-crossbone flags decorate our marina railings, there are concerts abound, and even two historic tall ships are available for sailing trips! It's been a weekend full of excitement and surprise, since it's the 1st annual festival that San Juan Island has hosted. What we didn't expect when heading out on our 5:30 whale watch was having the opportunity to witness...

(6/24/17 - Kestrel 10AM and 2PM Departure)

Today we left Friday Harbor and headed South toward some common whale feeding grounds.  We found one lone humpback whale milling around a small area.  One major difference between toothed whales (orcas) and baleen whales (humpback whales) is their social structure.  Toothed whales are generally stay in family groups called pods, while baleen whales are mostly solitary but will sometimes pair up for short periods of time, anywhere from a few hours to a...