Olivia | September 19th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today was such a treat all the way around. As Captain Erick, Co-Naturalist Sarah and I started heading north through the San Juan Channel with our passengers, we stumbled upon a rare surprise just south of Flattop Island- a Northern Fur Seal! We rarely get fur seals in our waters; in fact, this was Sarah’s first time in her six years of working here and Erick has only seen them once down in the Puget Sound. After taking in the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/18/19 | 12:00pm

What a crazy epic day today!

Captain Gabe, Naturalist Piper and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel. We heard reports from deep within Canadian territory, so we headed that direction. Boating above Stuart Island and crossing Boundary Pass, we crossed the border. We continued up toward Georgeson Pass, intertwining between gorgeous islands, admiring the birds flying by.

As we emerged into open...

What an adventurous tour today!

Captain Gabe, Naturalist Laura and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed down south through the San Juan Channel. It was clear skies until we reached the southern tip of San Juan, catching a glimpse of the Cattle Point lighthouse before running straight into a wall of fog.

This fog bank was really thick as we entered the open body of water. So, I could only allude to the Olympic mountains hiding behind the clouds. We travelled southwest as we boated...

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...

Piper | Friday, September 13, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Captain Pete, naturalist Alexandria, and I headed out of Friday Harbor on the Sea Lion with an awesome group of people. We headed south into San Juan Channel and upon reaching Cattle Pass we had an awesome view of Cattle Point Lighthouse with the cloud-ringed Olympic Peninsula in the background, but our attention was drawn more towards the rock outcropping on the other side of the boat because there lied a haul-out of...

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

What a great day near San Juan Island! Captain Gabe, Co-Naturalist Piper and I headed south through the San Juan Channel to aim for the Strait of Juan de Fuca in hopes of seeing potential whale sightings. We made a stop at Whale Rocks where we were able to view [and listen] to heaps of Steller’s Sea Lions! Loving these large Pinnipeds, it was so great to hear their deep bellows and watch them snooze, play, and swim in the high...

Erick | Tuesday, September 10, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | Noon

Today, Captain Pete and I took a fantastic group of passengers out on a noon trip to search the Salish Sea for some fun critters. It was another beautiful day that was the perfect fall temperature. It started out very foggy and dripping and by the afternoon was warm and sunny. Capt. Pete and I went north and immediately saw a how bunch of Harbor Porpoises hunting in the strong currents around Point Caution! As we journeyed...

Olivia | September 8th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a fun day Captain Sarah and I had with all our passengers on M/V Sea Lion! We started off the trip by heading north where we immediately began seeing Harbor Porpoises rounding San Juan Island through Spieden Channel. After taking a quick stop at Spieden Island to see Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and heaps of Mouflon Sheep, we continued towards Stuart Island where we ran into our solo Bigg’s Killer Whale, T49A3! This goofy...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Saturday, September 7, 2019 | 1:30PM

What a fantastic trip we had today!  We boarded onto M/V  Sea Lion and knew that there were orcas in our range but nothing could have prepared us for the day we were about to have! 

As we headed out we made a left hand turn and started heading north up San Juan Channel.  We knew that one of the reports we had received was just off of Waldron Island so we headed that way.

We met up with this group of Biggs...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Saturday, September 6, 2019 | 1:30PM

We had a great day today out on the water!  We started out our trip heading south through San Juan Channel.  Within minutes we were on scene with Biggs Killer whales that had been spotted in San Juan Channel.  We watched them as they swam back and forth off of Lopez Island trending south west. 

After spending some time with these orcas we headed out of San Juan Channel towards some of the banks in Strait of...