Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 7/2/2020 | 13:30

    Today was a magical day on the west side of San Juan Island!  I am ecstatic to report K pod received the upmost welcome back as they made their way up and down the shoreline, foraging and enjoying their time back home!  There are 17 individuals left in this pod, and we were all able to see them spread out and moving through the water in their natural habitat, a heart-filled experience that hopefully we will be able to see again one day.  

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/14/19 | 12:00pm

Today was unlike any day I’ve had in the San Juan’s!

Captain Pete, Naturalist Olivia and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed down south through the San Juan Channel on the lookout for any wildlife.

We reached the southern point of San Juan and admired the beautiful Cattle Point lighthouse.

Continuing out into open waters, we found a humpback whale! As we approached, the humpback slapped its tail against the surface of the water...

Laura C. | 7/19/2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was absolutely exquisite on M/V Kestrel!  We had such a great time observing all the diverse wildlife found in the Salish Sea!  Our Captain Gabe rounded the bend out of Friday Harbor and we already had our first sighting, a bald eagle!  This eagle looked like he/she was supervising the vessel traffic in and out of the harbor from above and took this job very seriously! 

On our way to find whales we stumbled across some harbor seals...

Laura C. | 7/2/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It was quite an adventure in the Salish Sea today on M/V Sea Lion!  Passengers embraced the wind and swirling seas like seasoned mariners, in hopes of momentarily connecting with these graceful and somewhat mysterious sea creatures.  Luckily our voyage was to close by Shaw Island, a trifle trip compared to journeys the Sea Lion is capable of enduring.  The rain and fog created breathtaking views of the treetops of surrounding islands...

Olivia | July 1st, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 6:00pm 

What a spectacular sunset this evening! We had a small group of about 9 passengers who were able to enjoy the evening with myself and Captain Brian. The best part? We didn’t have to travel far until we saw Bigg’s Killer Whales! We first viewed the T124A’s in the Wasp Passage around McConnell and Yellow Islands. They moved slowly through the Wasp Islands until they met up in the San Juan Channel with (SURPRISE) another family group...

Laura C./ 6-29-2019/  M/V Sea Lion /  1:30pm

Today was an outstanding day out on the water!  Our vessel Sea Lion traveled far north towards Point Roberts!  We were so excited to see a large family of Bigg’s killer whales demonstrating an abundance of surface activity!!  As our vessel approached the scene passengers stared in delight watching full breaches and tail breaches from a spirited calf!  There were also adults joining in on the fun!  A large male performed a full body breach...

Jordan | July 10, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 trip

What a great trip we had today! We received reports of whales traveling off of Active Pass up in Canadian waters. So, Captain Pete and I voyaged up through the San Juan Channel, past Boundary Pass, around the west side of Saturna Island and all the way up to Trincomali Channel. It was a long journey but it was definitely worth it when we found the whales!

We found two pods of transient whales, T124As and T36As, traveling together up...

Jordan | June 22, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 noon

What an amazing day out on the water! Captain Mike, Naturalist Rachel and I voyaged out of Friday Harbor towards a report of whales traveling along the east side of Lopez Island. We traveled north up the Upright channel where we saw two bald eagles perching in trees near their giant nest! It was very cool to see this pair, mated for life, nestled within the huge trees that they called home.

We then traveled down the east side of...

Jordan | June 14, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 sunset

The Sealion, along with Captain Pete and myself, voyaged out of Friday Harbor for the 5:30 sunset tour. Luckily, J Pod just recently returned to the San Juan islands causing excitement amongst the entire region! Today, this large group of Southern Resident whales decided that the southwest waters of San Juan Island was the best place to be. So, Captain Pete led us south past Cattle Point and up to Eagle Point where we saw our first...

The Sea Lion left the dock today crewed by Captain Pete and Naturalists Mike and Alex.  We had clear skies, a fantastic group of passengers and reports of a humpback whale to the North. We began to see wildlife right outside the harbor with a bald eagle regally perched in a tree and a pod of harbor porpoise close behind the boat. As we motored north we passed several more groups of the little porpoises, which are the most common and smallest cetacean found in the Salish Sea. Unlike...