Lauren | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, June 4th 2025 | 12:30 PM

We started our Classic Whale Watch & WIldlife Tour off by taking a left out of Friday Harbor and heading north into San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to McConnell Island to view two bald eagles perched high up on a tree top. We made our way into Spring Passage and then northeast into Presidents Channel. As we made our way towards Rosario Strait we were greeted by gorgeous views of Mount Baker. We then traveled to the northwest point of...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel| Tuesday, May 27th 2025 | 2pm

It's days like to today that truly feel like the Salish Sea is just teaming with marine life. We were treated to almost non-stop wildlife on today's Adventure Tour. We took a right out of Friday Harbor only to instantly have a guest point out a bald eagle on Turn Island. We quickly realized there were 3 bald eagles in the area, two adults and one juvenile.  One of the adults was right on the waters edge, picking away at a fish with his razor sharp...

Olivia Esqueda | April 28th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm

Despite the PNW spring rain, today’s trip turned out to be so much fun! We were able to spot many birds as we traveled down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, admiring Cattle Point Lighthouse along the way. After searching through the misty backdrop, we spotted the T065B’s- a matriline of Bigg’s Killer Whales. 

This ecotype of orca feeds on marine mammals and is commonly found in the greater Salish Sea area. We are very...

Olivia Esqueda | Friday, March 14th, 2025 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

This was the first tour of the year for both me and Captain Gabe, and it was definitely an exciting one! We started off the trip by heading north through San Juan Channel, where there has been an increase of whale activity over the past few days. Right away we were spotting many different birds including Pelagic Cormorants, Common Murres, Harlequin Ducks, Rhinoceros Auklets, and many, many more! Most notably, we saw at least a...

Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | September 28th, 2024| 12:30pm

Saturday out on the water was SO fun! We headed south through San Juan Channel making a brief stop at Goose Island where we saw Harbor Seals, Double Crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants before passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and exploring the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After transiting past heaps of Surf Scoters, we came across a large bait ball where we were able to see one of the few Minke Whales in the Salish Sea. However, we...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | September 13th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

The M/V Kestrel is our adventure boat, and our 2:00 pm Saturday trip was nothing short of an adventure. Nothing like celebrating the tail end of our summer whale watch tours with a torrential downpour! 

We left the dock, cruised out of Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to Sentinel Rock, a predominate harbor seal haul out site near Spieden Island. Harbor seals are super important to our ecosystem as they...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | September 12th, 2024 | 12:30pm

Our Thursday afternoon tour aboard the M/V Sea Lion started how we wish every tour would begin. Not only did we have reports of killer whales, but we had reports of multiple killer whale social gatherings. Not one, but two T-Partys had been found in Rosario Strait. A “T-Party” refers to a large group of Bigg’s AKA Transient (hence the “T”) killer whales. For a gathering to be a true T-Party, there must be members from at least three different...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | September 3rd, 2024 | 12:30pm

We are officially running our daily classic tours aboard M/V Sea Lion which tends to be a favorite vessel of our naturalist staff. Starting off the day, it sure felt like fall as we headed south into the fog. After a brief stop at Goose Island to check out some Harbor Seals thermoregulating on the shoreline, Double Crested Cormorants nesting on top of the island, and Pelagic Cormorants drying out their wings, we headed into the Strait of Juan...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | August 26th 2024 | 2PM

Aboard the M/V Kestrel on our 2pm Adventure tour, we left Friday Harbor with high spirits and turned left to zoom up San Juan Channel. We heard a rumored report of whales around Coal Island, just off shore from Sidney, BC. We quickly curved over the top of San Juan Island and made our way straight across the Canadian border. As we neared Coal Island the rain began, and quite frankly...it never stopped. This amount of participation is unusual for this...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | August 21st, 2024 | 12:30pm

Summer season out here in the San Juan Islands is considered peak season, bringing in the opportunity to see potentially two ecotypes of Killer Whales, Humpback Whales, Minke Whales, and Gray Whales. While statistics continually reflect on that, every day is a brand-new adventure on where or what type of whale it is we are going to see. Starting off August, we had a bit of a Killer Whale lull in the Salish Sea, where Pacific Whale Watch...