[Sarah | 05/03/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm]

We had an incredible day on the water today from Friday Harbor. This time of year the we say that the chances of seeing orcas are 50-60%, but we have been having a spectacular early season seeing whales on over 80% of our trips. Though it doesn’t happen every day, before we even left the dock we had a report of some killer whales close by in San Juan Channel!

Captain Brian, Captain Erick, and I decided to head south out of Friday Harbor...

[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 | 10/30/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

Today we welcomed a small group of great guests on board the M/V Sea Lion for an exploration of the Salish Sea in search of wildlife. Autumn forecasts are so fickle here in the San Juan Islands, we had no idea what to expect until we left the dock. The water was glassy and we had peek-a-boo blue skies with low hanging clouds over the islands.

We headed north through San Juan Channel towards Canadian waters in Boundary Pass. As we worked our...

Sarah | 10/29/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

We had a great trip on M/V Sea Lion, enjoying the sweeping scenery of the Salish Sea as well as great encounters with wildlife. Heading north out of Friday Harbor, we decided to point the boat towards the Outer Islands of the San Juans, and into Canadian waters. After some rain in the morning we were treated to a high clog ceiling and even some blue skies over smooth water.

With no reports of whales or other wildlife as we left the dock we...

October 8- M/V Sea Lion- 12 PM

Today we left Friday Harbor with no reports of wildlife in our area.  So we headed out and started searching North of San Juan Island.  We saw a lot of harbor porpoise while in transient.  Thankfully we spotted a spout off in the distance.  Captain Mike headed that way and we found out it was a humpback whale cruising around.   We watched as it circled around just South of Patos Island.  This whale was most likely feeding under the water and getting...

Captain Gabe and I headed down to the docks early morning already with some reports of killer whales up North near Point Roberts. Although this is quite far from us, we thought we might be able to encounter these animals in time, so we got the guests on board and hurried up North! As we were heading up the San Juan Channel, we realized that the wind was a lot stronger than we had hoped for. The whales were moving quickly farther north, and the wind was blowing against the current...

It was the warmest evening we had so far this season and the sunset tour was just about to kick off with some reports of killer whales East of Orcas Island. We didn’t yet know what group of whales were over there, but we decided to head that way and find out! The wind was amazingly warm and most of the guests were gladly sitting at the vow. We had some excited guests and even a birthday on board! We decided to head towards Rosario Strait going up Upright Channel and then through...

[Naturalist Sarah – 06/11/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Monday was just another day that put a smile on my face that stayed through dinner. After a long absence from the inland waters we enjoyed a delightful encounter with members of our Southern Resident killer whale population.

Today Captain Pete, Naturalist Jordan, and I departed Friday Harbor with a boatful of curious and excited guests! Right off the bat, as we turned left and headed north out of the harbor, we got some...

[Sarah – 05/13/2018 – M/V Kittiwake – 12:00pm]

Mother’s Day, and it was my first trip on M/V Kittiwake for the year! I love taking groups out on our smallest boat, because I really get to know the folks onboard, and we can tailor the trip to a smaller group’s needs. Captain Pete and I left the dock with no reports of whales in the area, so we decided to embark on our own search pattern. Soon into our trip we got a report of a humpback whale in the Strait of Georgia and decided to...

[Naturalist Sarah – 04/03/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

April trips don’t often start with whale reports on the dock, but on Tuesday we had incredible reports of orcas be fore we left Friday Harbor. Captain Brian opted for a southerly route, so he steered the M/V Sea Lion right out of the harbor.

The original orcas that were reported on the west side of San Juan Island had been fairly non-directional… traveling north along the shoreline, and then south. With plenty of time to...