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...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, July 1, 2019 | 2:00 PM

What a beautiful afternoon aboard M/V Sea Lion! We began our trip heading east out of Friday Harbor. We saw some upwelling and currents almost immediately after we left the harbor. It was neat to see all of the slick patches in the water. We made our way through Pivine Pass and ended up on the east side of Orcas Island. We headed toward Peapod Rocks because we were going to try to see some harbor seals, but on our way there we...

Piper | Sunday, June 30, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM

Happy last day of June! Tonight’s sunset cruise took us south through San Juan Channel to check out a report of orcas near Hein Bank! We headed down towards Cattle Point Lighthouse and stopped at Whale Rocks to check out a few Steller sea lions STILL hanging out in the pass! One sub-adult was lounging on the rocks soaking up the remaining rays for the day, trying to get warm. We continued south to an awesome view of the Olympic...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/30/19 | 1:30pm

Today was super great! Captain Erick, Naturalist Piper and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north to reports of orca whales coming from Canadian waters. We boated up through the San Juan Channel, passed by Orcas Island and Waldron Island and across Boundary Pass into Canada. Here, we went around East Point off of Saturna Island and headed west where we found orca whales!

We watched them swim into this beautiful area off of...

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 | M/V Sea Lion | 06/28/19 | 5:30pm

This evening was absolutely beautiful. Captain Pete and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of Friday Harbor just as the sun decided to sink a bit lower in the sky.

Hearing hopeful reports up north, we headed up through the San Juan Channel. We passed between Waldron Island and Orcas Island as we boated towards the northeast. We went between Patos and Sucia Islands entering the Strait of Georgia up towards Point Roberts. Here we found the...

Olivia | June 28, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It is always nice to leave the dock with potential whale sightings in our range. We decided to boat right between Shaw and Lopez Island and cut through Obstruction Pass to pop out over by Cypress Island in the Rosario Strait. On our way over there we passed many Harbor Seals which provided us with good set up conservation on balance in the ecosystem and how we start to see an increase in Bigg’s Killer Whales when there is a spike in the...

Laura C. | 6-28-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

This afternoon was an awesome day to spend on the water!  Captain Gabe drove M/V Kestrel north and stopped along Spieden Island to see some cool wildlife, including bald eagles and harbor seals!  We continued onward and were so excited to find TWO Bigg’s killer whale families traveling together near Saturna Island!  Passengers watched this active group gathering at the surface with calves splashing around and coming fully out of the water...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/27/19 | 5:30pm

What a gorgeous day out on the water! Although the clouds floated low towards the island, it didn’t take away any beauty from the surrounding islands. Captain Pete and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor for our sunset tour. We headed north through the San Juan Channel towards a report of wildlife up in Canada! We crossed under the southern bank of Speiden Island when we spotted our first animals!

On rocks close to the waters edge, we...