Yesterday we left Friday harbor with the reports of transient orcas far south.  We were taking the long trek towards where the transients were when they decided to pick up speed moving south, making them out of our reach.  At that point we decided to turn around and look for some Minke whales in salmon bank.  We got some great looks at some Minkes and even got to see one lung feeding!  We then headed over to long island and looked at a huge bald eagles nest.  On average a bald eagles...

Another magical day on the water, and this was even closer to home than usual! M/V Sea Lion motored out of Friday Harbor for a mere 10 minutes before we were greeted with the sight of blows in the distance. The blows belonged to non-other than the T-65A's, a mom and her offspring, that were combing the east side of the island for some tasty treats. It appeared that this was no problem for our marine-mammal eating orcas, since we saw a Harbor porpoise propel itself out of the water to...

Perfect, warm, and sunny day today in Friday Harbor barely even a breeze in the air. The lack of wind makes it quite warm in Friday Harbor but we knew that it meant good things for our trip. Captain Jim took us north on the Kittiwake to catch up with some whales that were also heading north in Haro Strait. We caught up with them at Kellet Bluff on Henry Island. We got reports from some of the other boats that we were viewing the entire K pod, which is 19 whales. They were very spread...

Today Captain Jim and I set out on the M/V Kittiwake with two reports of orcas: one of transients to the north, and one of residents to the south. Oftentimes we joke that deciding where to go is a like a chess match.... the whales will make one move and then we have to respond. We are a member of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, so we are in constant communication with other captains on the water getting the most current information about the whale's movement, which aids in...

The fog cleared around 1pm, which was perfect for our 1:30pm departure on M/V Sea lion leaving Friday Harbor. We headed south because we had reports of whales near False Bay.  By the time we caught up with the whales they were passed Lime Kiln on the west side of San Juan Island. We had a great afternoon watching K pod fully intact, and traveling close together. It was awesome to see 19 whales so close together and they even gave us a close swim by and checked out the guests onboard...

Yesterday afternoon we left Friday harbor and headed south towards reports of whales on the South side of San Juan Island.  On our way down to that area we stopped to look at some huge stellar sea lions.  Did you know that male stellar sea lions get up to 2,000 pounds?  Once we got a good look at those sea lions we headed around the south side of San Juan Island and came across the J2's.  The J2's are Granny's family and all of her living descendants.  The group includes J2 (Granny)...

The Pacific Northwest lived up to its rainy name today, but if you thought this would deter whale watchers you would be wrong! Guests aboard the M/V Sea Lion were braving the cold air, and intermittent rain clouds to get a closer look at the amazing superpod of transient that consisted of well over 20 whales! The M/V Sea Lion motored east through Obstruction Pass, and even got to split through Frost Island and Spencer's Spit to arrive in the Rosario Strait. Just North of Belle Rock...

Today we left Friday harbor and headed North towards East Point.  On the way North we stopped at Flattop Island and found some harbor seals and two bald eagles.  One eagle was an adult another was a juvenile that was feeding on a fish.  We continued towards to whales.  We found the whales a little South of East Point.  The first whale we saw was J2 (Granny) and she gave us a great look!  Granny is estimated to be the oldest orca in the world at 103 years old! We then watched L87...

Today we left Friday harbor and headed South through San Juan Channel and then East towards Anacortes.  When we got into San Juan Channel we came across a minke whale, which made for a nice surprise! We watched the minke whale and then continued heading South.  We went through cattle pass and stopped at the whale rocks to look at some large stellar sea lions.  We then headed East and found the J16's.  The J16's consist of J16 (Slick) and her three offspring J26 (Mike), J36 (Alki) and...

It was an eventful day today with our resident whales along the westside of San Juan Island. We were greeted by both members of K Pod and L Pod for our afternoon trip on the M/V Sea Lion. We first met up with these whales at Battleship Island and then followed them north towards Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island. I always love being able to see them at Turn Point because Mt. Baker, the lighthouse, and the whales, will occasionally line up perfectly for the ultimate whale...