[7/6/17- M/V Kittiwake- 11:00AM Charter]

If you’re reading this and have already been out to the San Juan Islands, then I might be stating the obvious, but this area is STUNNING. And, today was no exception! Sunny and 75, we chugged out of Friday Harbor from San Juan Island to see what we could see.

The trip was off to a great start as we approached Speiden Island and saw some bald eagles. There was a single individual who was perched on a treetop, but behind it in the sky were about...

[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...

[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...

[06/07/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 2:00pm]

Today’s M/V Kestrel trip was arguably one of my favorites of the season so far. We had an amazing time with two species of cetaceans and the plentiful other wildlife of the Salish Sea. Leaving Friday Harbor we took a right, heading south, through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass to check out some seals and sea lions before continuing on into Haro Strait. The water was glassy and we had multiple reports of whales in the area.

[May 31, 2017 -- M/V Kestrel -- 2:00pm Charter]

One of my favorite things about M/V Kestrel is that with its speed our trip gains flexibility in wildlife viewing. Yesterday we left the dock with favorable reports of killer whales, but, because of the boat we were on, we got to see so much more.

We first cruised north through San Juan Channel towards Flattop Island. In circumnavigating the small wildlife refuge we got awesome looks at Pacific Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks...

Something magical happens when two very different worlds collide and are able to coexist with each other in harmony, even if just for an hour. The human world aboard M/V Kestrel had a chance to link up with the mesmerizing orca world of the Transient killer whales today off of Green Point on Saturna Island. I've always loved orcas, and have always appreciated their cunning, intelligence, and constant ability to keep us whale-watching humans guessing. But before today, I'd never seen...

Yesterday we had our first evening trip for this season and it was one for the books!  Earlier in the day we saw all of members of J pod, a total of 24 whales, resting together on the South West side of San Juan Island.  Thankfully, the whales decided to stay in the area for our evening trip, which allowed our guests to have a relaxing and enjoyable view of these Southern resident killer whales.  On our way to the whale sighting we came across some playful Dall’s porpoise.  Always a...

We were lucky enough to leave the dock with reports of transient orca’s south of San Juan Island.  We knew we were going to need to go a little further today than usual but the reports were still in our reach and we wanted to make sure we gave our guests the best trip we could in our power.  As we headed down San Juan Channel past the Southern tip of San Juan Island we enjoyed the beautiful view of the surrounding Northern Cascade mountains as well as the Olympic mountains and the...

We left Friday Harbor with reports of transient orcas headed to the South side of San Juan Island.  On our way to the area where the killer whales were seen we saw a variety of wildlife that resides here in the Salish Sea.  We saw quite a few bald eagles both perched and in flight.  We also saw a pod of harbor porpoise swimming in the area as well.  Harbor porpoise are one of the smallest cetaceans and they also tend to be shy around boats.  A surprise sighting during our venture was...

Today on M/V Sea lion we left the dock with no whale reports and rain in the forecast.  This is not an uncommon start for our pre-season tours; however, today our expectations were exceeded as the day continued.  We left Friday Harbor with plans to go to the Canadian Gulf Islands in hopes of finding some transient orcas.   We quickly got reports of transient orcas near Matia Island, on the North side of Orcas Island.  We headed towards the area and saw a large pod of harbor porpoises...