07/02/17, Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris, 1:30 and 5:30 pm Tours

What a magical day of Bigg's Killer Whales! We encountered several different family pods on the east side of Orcas Island today, over in Rosario Strait. We enjoyed some breathtaking views of the T36's and a number of other Transients. My favorite part? Seeing the massive males rise up above the surface with their huge wavering dorsal fins. It's absolutely humbling. 

The whales were busy hunting and...

[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...

[6/23/17- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30PM]  The sun has returned to the San Juan Islands! Not a cloud in the sky was spotted as M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor. The start of summer has been in full swing, and this was a beautiful taste of what is to come for the upcoming months.

We bobbed and weaved amongst the islands and tides, spotting harbor seals and various sea birds. After some time, we spotted quite a large pod of harbor porpoise spread out amongst the tides. Typically boat shy...

[6/17/17- M/V Kestrel- 2:00PM] It was a day to remember out on the Salish Sea! We departed Friday Harbor from San Juan Island on M/V Kestrel, a high-adventure zodiac-style boat. And holy smokes, within 15 minutes we were already upon some transient killer whales! Snuggled between San Juan Island and Lopez Island were the T65’s, a small family group that has been hanging around the San Juan Islands frequently. They were calmly traveling in a tight-knit group, breathing together in...

[06/13/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 01:30pm & 05:30pm]

Today we had another wonderful day on the water with multiple whale reports and sunny skies. We had the pleasure of hosting two wonderful groups of guests on our afternoon and evening trips.

On our afternoon trip we headed north through San Juan Channel towards Spring Passage between Jones and Orcas Islands. Heading towards White Rock in Cowlitz Bay near Waldron Island we found harbor seals and a bald eagle out on the rocks. Both...

[06/12/17 ~ 1:00 Kestrel]

Even on my second season here at San Juan Safaris, there are still days where I'm simply in awe of the area that I'm surrounded by. The churning waters of the Salish Sea, punctuated by evergreen-capped islands, both hosting a unique and charactaristic array of wildlife that I always feel blessed to be graced by on a daily basis. Today was one of those days, with crystal-clear skies and water just choppy enough to keep us on our toes, and reports of whales...

[06/10/2017 ~ M/V Sea Lion 1200 Departure]

One of the biggest challenges of whale watching is in the name itself: you're watching WHALES. Wild animals, who can travel 100 miles per day easy, who spend the majority of their lives underwater where we can't see them. Untrained, unpredictable, wild animals. This also happens to be the fun of whale watching. You're watching WHALES! Wild whales that are on their own schedule and doing their natural whale behaviors while you just look on in...

Lauren Fritz, San Juan Safaris, M/V Sea Lion, 6/8/17, 1pm Tour

Did you know today is World Oceans Day? What better way to celebrate than a whale and wildlife tour with San Juan Safaris! M/V Sea Lion was off the dock today at 1 pm and facing some wet and sloshy weather. Luckily, we're well-equipped out here - we've got rain slickers, snuggly blankets, and a toasty cabin to retreat to when the going gets too wet! Days like these are an adventure, and we soaked up way more than just...

[06/03/2017 - M/V Sea Lion - 12pm]

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You could fill a book with everything that we know about orcas and their social structure. You could also fill a book with everything we don't know about them. Why do they breach? What are they talking about down...

[Sunday, May 28, 2017 -- M/V Sea Lion -- 12:00pm and 5:30pm tours]

On Sunday we had an incredible demonstration of the strength and power of killer whales. We often throw out the stat that killer whales can travel over 100 miles a day, and we saw that fist hand from one of my very favorite families of whales.

On our afternoon trip we went headed south out of Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass. Under blue skies we had wonderful wildlife sightings of Steller’s...