Olivia | May 28th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today started off beautifully for Captain Gabe and me. It was such a small group of people that all decided they wanted to sit at the bow together, which allowed us to chat and hang out as our own family group. We started our route traveling past Waldron Island through Presidents Channel and saw Harbor Porpoises! This was very exciting since this is a wee bit of a hot spot for them in the shallow waters where there is an influx in...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | Saturday, May 25, 2019| 12:00 PM

Today was a rainy day, but that sure did not stop us from seeing amazing wildlife. We began our trip heading north out of Roche Harbor, heading toward Pender Island, as we got some reports of orcas in that area. On our way out of the harbor, we saw harbor seals up at the surface! As we were travelling, we got sights on a humpback whale that was by itself. We stopped to watch the humpback whale, and it had a fairly predictable...

Piper | Thursday, May 23, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 12:00 PM

The M/V Kestrel left the docks of Friday Harbor today at noon with me, an awesome group of guests, and the wonderful Captain Gabe. We headed north into San Juan Channel and before we could even get to speed, we spotted a bald eagle perched in some trees on Point Caution! Watching this eagle scan the waters of the channel was a great start to the trip! We picked up the pace and made it to the Wasp Islands where we came across a...

Piper | Wednesday, May 22, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

This lovely Wednesday morning the M/V Sea Lion was crewed by Captain Gabe and I, and we carried a great group of people north into San Juan Channel to scan the waters for whales. We made our way into Boundary Pass and across the border into Canadian waters where a report of humpback whales came through! We arrived at Saturna Island and Java Islets and we spotted the blows of two humpbacks surfacing next to each other! We...

Erin | Monday, May 20, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 p.m.

Today was incredible. It began with some sightings of harbor seals as we departed from Friday Harbor. They were swimming through the water as we cruised past them. We travelled north toward President Channel, and we saw some harbor porpoises and harbor seals along the way. Everybody became quite good at spotting harbor porpoises as the trip went on. Their small, chocolate chip-shaped dorsal fins became stars of the show at...

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

What a spectacular day out on the water! Naturalist Piper, Captain Pete, and I had a great Mother’s Day trip exploring the Salish Sea! We great weather and great wildlife kicking around as of late it was bound to be a great day! We left Friday Harbor and headed north towards Boundary Pass and East Point. This time of year the southern stretches of the Strait of Georgia have amazing prey abundance for all sorts of critters, so it seemed like...

M/V Sea Lion | May 11, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria

What a great day we had today out on the water!  Captain Pete, Erick and myself all hit the water with no firm reports of whales, but as we headed north up San Juan Channel we heard of some Humpbacks that had been seen up in Boundary Pass!

We were just passing through Presidents Channel- right off of Orcas Island- and were already headed in the right direction! Along the way we got some good looks at a few harbor porpoise swimming...

Sarah | 05/11/2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We had an amazing late morning/early afternoon trip out in the Salish Sea with our Adventure Tour! We had incredibly clear skies and buttery-smooth waters, enjoying amazing views of the surrounding mountains as we cruised. We decided to leave Friday Harbor and head north, as there was an early morning rumor of some humpback whales in the southern stretches of the Strait of Georgia.

We drove through President’s Channel and onward towards the...

[Sarah | 04/25/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm]

Today was the day! The day we have all been waiting for! Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you that I have been talking about the day we would finally see a humpback whale in the 2019 season and that day was today!

Captain Pete and I had no reports of cetaceans when we left the dock in Friday Harbor. Undiscouraged we decided to head east, interisland, to search some waterways that hadn’t been looked at by any whale watchers yet...

Sarah | 10/24/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Captain Mike and I left Friday Harbor on a beautiful autumn day here in the Pacific Northwest. We elected to head south out of the harbor. At this point in the year there are fewer boats on the water, usually running one trip a day departing at around noon. This means that we rarely have any wildlife reports before leaving the dock, and reports start rolling in as boats spread out throughout the Salish Sea.

Mike steered down San Juan...