Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 30, 2021 | 2:00pm

Our Friday afternoon Classic Whale Watch was a really fun trip! We departed Friday Harbor in search of wildlife and decided to travel south through San Juan Channel, following a report of something big, black and white in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. These reports are only rumors until we get our actual eyes on them! We passed Cattle Point Lighthouse, entering choppier waters with some rolling swells. The boat rocked and rolled while...

Maxx K. | M/V Osprey | 07/27/2021 | 5:30pm

    Osprey left Friday Harbor heading north this evening. Our morning trip left a family of Bigg’s Killer Whales off Lime Kiln on the west coast of San Juan Island. A mere three hours later this same family was reported up and over Orcas Island, approaching Sucia Island. It took us a little over 40 minutes to reach them: 

T037A Volker (1994, F)

T037A1 Inyo (2007, M)

T037A2 Inky (2009, —)

T037A3 Spinnaker (2013, —)

T037A4 Crinkle (2015, —)

Abby & Maxx | Sea Lion | 6/23/2021

Whale, whale, whale. Hello there! Abby here.

I just got back from this stellar trip and am now on a complete orca high.

Captain Pete, Maxx, and I zipped out of Friday Harbor to find the T037A’s in San Juan Channel.

• Volker T037A (Female, 1994)
  
  • Inyo T037A1 (Gender Unknown, 2007)
  • Inky T037A2 (Male, 2009)
  • Spinnaker T037A3 (Male, 2013)
  • Crinkle T037A4 (Gender Unknown, 2015)

As we headed south through San Juan Channel, travelling parallel to our...

Abby & Maxx | Sea Lion | 6/23/2021

Whale, whale, whale. Hello there! Abby here.

I just got back from this stellar trip and am now on a complete orca high.

Captain Pete, Maxx, and I zipped out of Friday Harbor to find the T037A’s in San Juan Channel.

• Volker T037A (Female, 1994)
  
  • Inyo T037A1 (Gender Unknown, 2007)
  • Inky T037A2 (Male, 2009)
  • Spinnaker T037A3 (Male, 2013)
  • Crinkle T037A4 (Gender Unknown, 2015)

As we headed south through San Juan Channel, travelling parallel to our...

Maxx K. | M/V Sea Lion | 07/19/2021 | 2:00pm

    The crew was stoked for our afternoon trip today. Captain Pete and I joined Haleigh on Sea Lion, stoked for the afternoon given the reports from various morning tours. We left Friday Harbor heading out towards the Juan de Fuca and towards rumors of a T-Party of Bigg’s Killer Whales. It took us maybe 40 minutes to get on scene, but believe me, it was well worth the wait. 

    Four families of Bigg’s Orcas (made up of the T037As, T065A’s...

Abby | Kestrel | 7/15/2021

As if I thought my orca encounters couldn’t get any better, BAM! Today happened…

I suited up in fleece-lined pants, ready to take on the wind and waves that were about to disenchant the calm, put-together look I had so carefully compiled this morning. Weather reports came in of five-foot swells out in Haro Strait, and, as if right on cue, so did the killer whale reports. Captain Eric and I held on as we zoomed through San Juan Channel, 18 guests unaware...

Maxx K. | M/V Osprey | 07/07/2021 | 5:30pm

    Today’s sunset tour started like they often do: Osprey left Friday harbor in search of whales, following up on rumors of whales nearby. I was not prepared however for just how spectacular the trip would end up being. 

Rumors of killer whales led us north, through the San Juan Channel and into the Wasp Islands that separate the west coasts of Shaw and Orcas. Osprey then turned left into West Sound and towards the family of Bigg’s Killer...

Maxx K. | M/V Sea Lion | 07/01/2021 | 2:00 

    It was a gorgeous afternoon on the water today, a perfect 70 degrees and calm as could be as we left Friday harbor with a boatful of excited guests. We turned northward, heading up and through the San Juan channel following rumors of whales approaching Waldron Island. We passed Jones Island and Orcas on our journey, weaving between the islands as they slowly began to rise further out of the water with the outgoing tide. 

    From...

Laura | M/V Osprey | 6/10/2021 | 12:30 PM

Summer is here in the Salish Sea!  We had an awesome trip with 4 Bigg’s killer whales southbound in San Juan Channel!  It is not common for us to have orcas right outside of Friday Harbor, but if the stars align and our vessel departs as whales are passing by, we have found ourselves in the middle of an epic wildlife experience!  And today was not a day to disappoint!

M/V Osprey headed north in San Juan Channel and within 10 minutes our...

Abby | Kestrel | 6/4/2021

We had a long journey northward through the Strait of Georgia, right next to the Canadian border. The sky was cloudy and orca vibes fluttered among the sparkling blue-green waters of the Salish Sea. When we arrived at the last known location of some unidentified Bigg’s killer whales, we saw three blows on our port side. One on the starboard. Holy orcamole (like guacamole, get it?), one at our 12 o’clock! We were smack dab in the middle of an orca soup. They...