09/27/17 – M/V Sea Lion – 12 PM

With great morning reports, M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor Marina in search of Southern Resident orcas. The warm air giving the illusion that summer hadn’t left just yet, passengers relaxed in the sun on the bow as we headed to the south side of San Juan Island. Just as we rounded Cattle Point, there they were! Off in the distance were black knife-like dorsal fins cutting the surface after a bush of mist exhalation. Captain Gabe slowed our speed...

9/24/2017 – M/V Sea Lion—Noon

On this sunny Sunday afternoon the M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor and headed north, exploring the east coast of San Juan Island. Continuing on, we ventured through Boundary Pass and into Canadian waters, but no passports were needed for our visit today! Motoring into the Trincomali Channel we passed by a number of the Southern Gulf Islands and there’s no better a backdrop for the exciting sighting of Southern Resident Killer Whales for which we were...

[Naturalist Sarah – 09/22/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

September, September, September! There is a reason that this month is a staff favorite out on the water. Today was just another day that puts a smile on your face that stays through dinner. This afternoon we had a delightful encounter with members of our Southern Resident killer whales.

Today Captain Gabe, Naturalist Courtney, and I departed Friday Harbor with a boatful of curious and excited guests! Right off the bat, as we...

[Naturalist Sarah M. – 09/20/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 02:00pm]

Today was the embodiment of a perfect September day in the San Juan Islands. The clouds were high and we had periodic sun with some of the smoothest water I’ve ever seen in Haro Strait and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Sea Lions

Captain Mike and I were lucky to have a group of 16 wonderful guests out for our Adventure Whale Watch. Mike steered the boat south out of Friday Harbor, and we headed down San Juan Channel through...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 8/31/17, 1:30PM]

            On Thursday, Captain Pete, Rachel, and I took a great group of folks out on a wildlife watching adventure! We started out by heading west towards Vancouver Island to search for large baleen whales to the south of the Canadian city of Victoria. After crossing Haro Strait we saw a blow off in the distance! As we got closer we saw a small Humpback Whale swimming near Constance Bank. This one was a young one, but that...

[09/12/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 12:00PM]

Boy, was today foggy! As we left Friday Harbor on M/V Sea Lion, the day was overcast, but visibility was great! Then juuuust as we hit Cattle Point on the south side of San Juan Island, we hit a wall of fog in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. But, that wasn’t going to dampen our spirits! We were determined to find orca whales.

We were talking with boats out on the water who were with Southern resident killer whales, but we even had to...

[09/08/2017- M/V Kestrel- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM]

Today brought some drizzle, fog, and cloud cover (which has brought the smoke down quite a bit, yay!), but by the afternoon we had some better visibility and could forge our way south to an orca whale report!

M/V Kestrel zipped down to Port Townsend, but not before stopping at a Tufted puffin in Cattle Pass! It’s very rare to be seeing these clownish birds in our range, much less on the south point of San Juan Island! It was so...

[09/5/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 1:30PM]

Smoke and clouds were overcasting the skies today, but luckily that provided for some awesome whale watching! The seas were glassy, there was no glare from sunlight, and looking for dark whale bodies surfacing for air against a light gray sea was easy as pie.

M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor and headed south through Cattle Pass and towards Salmon Bank. A “bank” is what we refer to as a shallow portion of water out here in our...

[Naturalist Sarah C. 9/3/17 M/V Sea Lion 1:30pm departure]

Transient orcas have been spotted in the dozens around the San Juans this week. It's not always the case that we get to choose which whale sighting we pursue on our daily departures from Friday Harbor. With multiple families spotted within our range, we chose a company favorite for today's adventure - the T65A's.

Orcas, as a species, are matriarchal, meaning that the oldest female in a family group is in charge. For...

[08/29/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 1:30PM]

Smoke returned slightly to the San Juan Islands today, but that didn’t get us down on our whale watch and wildlife tour on M/V Sea Lion!

We departed Friday Harbor in high spirits, ready to see what would await us as we trekked through some of the most beautiful parts of the inner islands of the San Juans. We departed Friday Harbor and headed East past Shaw Island, Lopez Island, and Orcas Island. Near the ferry terminal at Lopez, we...