Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 7/25/2019 | 1:30pm

Today was a beautiful day on the water!  Our vessel Sea Lion headed far north with morning reports of some cool whale sightings!  After a picturesque journey surrounded by Canadian mountain views and Mount Baker in the distance, we saw a dorsal fin way out in the distance.  It was the fin of a humpback whale moving sleekly through the glass calm water! 

We stayed with this humpback for quite a while and watched her take 4-5-minute dives...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

This was a trip for the books! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and headed back towards where we had seen whales on our previous trip, in the Strait of Georgia. We stopped past White Rock, which is a very interesting location. It is important for both birds and harbor seals. There were lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, some of which had pups! There was one pup that was moving around on the rocks. It was...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

What an incredible trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this morning! We left Friday Harbor and headed north. It was a sunny day and there were a few reports of whales in the area, so we all felt as if there were exciting times ahead! We stopped by White Rock, which is an important refuge for seabirds and harbor seals alike. We saw about thirty harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, and we also saw some swimming around in the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/21/19 | 5:30pm

Today was extraordinary. I had a fantastic group of people with me that just loved asking all the really good whale questions!

It all started as Captain Pete and I headed out of San Juan Island and into the San Juan Channel. We headed north and crossed under Speiden Island. Here we slowed and checked out some lovely wildlife.

We were able to spot mouflon sheep, fallow deer and harbor seals all along the shoreline of the island! It was crazy...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/19/19 | 1:30pm

Today was a really lovely day out on the water! I really enjoyed speaking with all our guests and answering all their great questions about our wildlife!

Captain Sarah, Naturalist Piper and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed up north towards reports of killer whales. We headed up through the San Juan Channel and past Speiden Island. We boated around Stuart Island, across Boundary Pass and into Canadian waters. Here we went towards...

Laura C. | 7/19/2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was absolutely exquisite on M/V Kestrel!  We had such a great time observing all the diverse wildlife found in the Salish Sea!  Our Captain Gabe rounded the bend out of Friday Harbor and we already had our first sighting, a bald eagle!  This eagle looked like he/she was supervising the vessel traffic in and out of the harbor from above and took this job very seriously! 

On our way to find whales we stumbled across some harbor seals...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/18/19 | 3:00pm

What a great trip today! Captain Pete and I took the Kestrel and headed out to open seas to find the whales! We heard reports of the whales from our first trip travelling north so we set off in that direction.

We boated up through the San Juan Channel and up towards Waldron Island. Here we stopped at a little place called white rocks. We spotted so many harbor seals! These puppy dogs of the sea flopped around and tried to balance on tiny rocks...

Laura C. | 7/17/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

This evening’s whale watch was simply magical!  Captain Pete manned the helm and ventured north to Swanson Channel.  Our passengers were thrilled to find a family of Bigg’s killer whales traveling near North Pender Island!  This family was quickly identified as the T60s, with the lead matriarch estimated to be 39 years old!  T60C is a large male that was born in 2001 and he stood out as a powerful bull compared to his younger and smaller...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 11:00 AM

It was an absolutely wildlife-filled day on the water this morning. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We made our way to Cattle Point and got a lovely view of the lighthouse. Then we went directly across the San Juan Channel to Whale Rocks and we saw over 20 harbor seals hauled out of the water! There were a few swimming around in the water as well. Not only were there harbor seals, but there was a Steller's...

Laura C. | 7/13/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 pm

This evening’s whale watch was so much fun!  Our captain Pete manned the helm as we ventured south towards Whidbey Island to find a gray whale!!  It was so exciting to see such a beautiful whale on a sunset trip!  Gray whales sift through the ocean floor in search of benthic invertebrates, a primary food source.   This leviathan was solo today and showed us his/her fluke multiple times right before heading down on a dive!  We aren’t...