Piper | Friday, July 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00AM

Today was oddly chilly, dreary, and drizzly for a day in July in the San Juan Islands, but it was one heck of a day for whale sightings!! The M/V Kestrel was crewed today by me and Captain Gabe and for our morning trip we headed out to a report of Bigg’s killer whales near Blakely Island.

We arrived on scene with the whales on a deep dive and when they surfaced they were very close to Blakely, coming up in different directions, on...

Piper | Thursday, June 20, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

This morning when Captain Gabe and I arrived at the docks a ferry came into the marina here in Friday Harbor and reported seeing orcas just outside the town! While I got everyone fitted in exposure suits, he jumped on the boat and took it out to locate those orcas for us. Once he’d spotted them and we were ready to go, he brought Kestrel back and we all hopped on! We headed north into San Juan Channel to go check out this group...

Piper | Sunday, June 16, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Happy Father’s Day! Today the M/V Sea Lion was crewed by Captain Erick, Erin, and me and we left Friday Harbor with a really awesome group of people who were super engaged and asked some awesome questions about the conservation and ecology of wildlife out in the Salish Sea. We headed north and traveled really far up past Boundary Pass and up Swanson Channel to check out a lone male Bigg’s killer whale, T77A.

T77A, also known as...

Laura | Saturday June 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12pm/ 5:30pm

Today was a wonderful day out on the water aboard M/V Sea Lion!  We first found a large congregation of harbor seals hauled out along the rocks of the east side of Flat Top, one of the nearby islands along the San Juan Channel.  Some of these seals were jumping in the water and a few came close by our vessel to check out the passenger!  The seas were so calm today we were able to view a bunch of jellyfish looking down from...

I have recently uprooted back to the United States after living in New Zealand for a year and a half and decided I wasn’t ready to give up that beautiful scenery. I discovered the San Juan Islands after an impromptu trip with my best friend and decided not only is it incredibly similar to my life down under, but it was a place I needed to be!  Therefore, I packed up my Red Band gumboots in my favorite Osprey backpack and moved out here at the very beginning of May. Being a hard...

Erick | Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

Today, we were back in our normal spring weather – so gray skies with light drizzles through out the day. I love this weather because the low-lying clouds scrap along the tree line and the mist that you walk through cools down the temperature and the colors of the islands. Captain Pete and I left with a good group of folks out of Friday Harbor to find out what sort of marine life was out there today. We started out going north in San Juan...

Sarah | 05/13/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

We had another amazing day in the Salish Sea today. I know that I say that every day, or at least every time I write a blog, but I’m serious… this is the coolest place ever! Today this ecosystem was truly a delight to explore and we had amazing views throughout the duration of our boat trip!

Captain Pete and I elected to head north today into the nutrient rich and productive waters of Boundary Pass and the Strait of Georgia. This area of...

M/V Sea Lion | May 6th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria

Today was a beautiful day!  Not only did we get spend a generous amount of time with our Resident Orcas in the area- but we also had a gorgeous, sunny day with Mt. Baker and the Olympics as the backdrop to our amazing afternoon!

As we boarded onto M/V Sea Lion we already knew it was going to be a beautiful day, but we had no idea how amazing our looks of these beautiful members of J-Pod would be!  We headed south down San Juan...

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 | Thursday, April 18, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

Today, was a classic rainy PNW spring day. Many of the widlflowers are comign out and the landscape blushes with hints of pink, purple, white, and yellow. Captain Pete and I headed north through San Juan and President Channel. As the low lying clouds hovered over the mostly still sea and scraped over the forested islands that towered above us we cruised along and made our first stop at Patos Island. Here we cruised by the Patos...