Olivia | July 22nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Despite the beautiful sunshine, Olympic mountain range silhouetting the southern horizon, and Mount Baker proudly standing above the San Juan Islands, we ended up having fairly rough seas as we headed out on our adventure. We left Friday Harbor aware of two potential whale sightings, one very far north and moving further away, or another south near Whidbey Island where the swells were about 3-4 feet in some areas of our travel. Captain...

Olivia | July 21st, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

PSA: Long Blog for an epic afternoon!

After having an incredible morning trip, Captain Gabe and I set out again to find the whales we had the opportunity to see in the morning, and potentially stumble upon some more. As we were leaving Friday Harbor, we already saw both a Bald Eagle and a Harbor Seal. We continued up towards Spieden Island and were able to observe some lazier Harbor Seals with their pups in addition to Fallow Deer...

Piper | Sunday, July 21, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Today’s afternoon Classic tour aboard the M/V Sea Lion was crewed by Captain Pete, Jordan, and me! We had an awesome group of folks today with lots of families who asked some really great questions! We left the docks in Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel towards the top of San Juan Island, where we crossed to the west side of the island where a group of Bigg’s killer whales we reported to be hanging out!

When we...

Olivia | July 21st, 2019 | M/V kestrel | 11:00am

Every day is completely different and unique, especially with whales that can travel over 100 miles in a day. Today, however, they decided to make our job very easy! Just as we left Friday Harbor, and I mean barely out of the harbor, we came across the T46B’s of Bigg’s Killer Whales. They continued to hug the shoreline and travel north. Captain Gabe and I adore seeing this family because their young calf has Leucism, a condition where...

Olivia | July 17th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 3:00pm

What an adventurous Adventure Tour on our M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe! We had a morning trip with 22 passengers and an evening private charter with a fabulous work group for their team bonding. For both the 11:00am and 3:00pm trips, we saw the same Cetaceans within our waters.

In the morning we decided to head north around San Juan Island and eventually end up in Haro Strait where our first reported whale sighting was. On...

Piper | Wednesday, July 17, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

This morning started out pretty drizzly but Captain Pete, Laura, me, and our enthusiastic guests got covered up in our awesome bright yellow rain slickers and hit the water like some Alaskan deep-sea fishermen! Only, our goal today was to get to watch some orcas and other wildlife just do their own thing, and we definitely accomplished that goal today!

We left Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel up and around...

Olivia | July 16th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Today was a gorgeous day out on the water! We had multiple sightings reported for whales in our area, and Captain Gabe decided to go with our best option of heading south just a wee bit before passing between Shaw and Lopez Islands. Between these islands we saw three Bald Eagles and a Bald Eagle Nest! These large birds of prey are considered to be monogamous by returning to the same nest with the same mate year after year. They...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 3:00 PM

What a lovely trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this afternoon. We began our trip going north out of Friday Harbor because we heard that there was a gray whale travelling along the shoreline of Shaw Island! We were barely ten minutes into our trip when we saw a beautiful blow up at the surface. It was indeed a gray whale. The whale was travelling very quickly, but we saw it take 2-3 breaths at the surface and then go back down for 3-5...

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...

Piper | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

On today’s bright, sunny afternoon tour, Captain Pete, Jordan, and I took an awesome boat full of people into the Salish Sea to look for some whales and wildlife! Not very far outside of the marina of Friday Harbor we spotted a gray whale moving north through San Juan Channel! It’s quite rare for us to get gray whales this far north in the Salish Sea; when they are seen here, they’re typically spotted south near Whidbey Island...