Can I take just a moment to brag?  This morning, when Captain Mike was likely still in his orca print onesie dodging dreamtime flotsam, I was watching orcas from the deck of a Washington state ferry.  Between all of the naturalists, captains, and their associates, there are a lot of eyes on the water, and to be the first to report a killer whale sighting is an honor that has thus far evaded my collection.  Well today I checked it off my list, even though it was not a result of...

Of the three days so far in April, the M/V Sea Lion is batting 100% in terms of whale sightings. Yesterday was a spectacular day on the water, definitely in my top five of trips ever… It’s not even summer! Captain Mike, Naturalist Andrew, and I elected to head north out of Friday Harbor, and then decided to travel around the north end of San Juan Island towards Haro Strait. We had a bluebird day and there was wildlife everywhere.

The tour started with some awesome...

Today Captain Pete, Kayak Guide Jordan and I headed out on another tour on the M/V Sea Lion. We have been having some excellent weather lately, and it has been a true pleasure to be out on the water. Leaving Friday Harbor we headed North through San Juan Channel towards Spieden Island.

In Spieden channel we had an awesome encounter with some foraging Steller’s sea lions. There were at least twenty of the huge pinnipeds in the water! The animals were surfacing around the very active...

Captain Pete, Kayak Guide Jordan, and had a great trip on the M/V Sea lion to kick off the month of April. As we left the harbor we had overcast skies that soon turned into blue sky trying to peek out. We headed north towards a report of orcas just south of Vancouver, and at the edge of our range. Leaving the dock it was our best bet to show our guests whales.

We had about an hour and a half worth of motoring to get up to where the whales had been reported. There is no “usual” travel...

Yesterday the M/V Sea Lion had an amazing encounter with three family of Bigg’s killer whales, also known as transient killer whales, traveling in San Juan Channel. It was such a treat to have such active whales so close to the harbor, and definitely not an everyday occurrence!

Captain Mike, Emily, and I left Friday Harbor with a full boat of guests under sunny skies. We headed north as the whales had been reported earlier in the morning by members of the Pacific Whale Watching...

Friday, March 24th, turned into a fabulous day on the water!  Captain Mike, guests aboard the M/V Sea Lion, and I were hopeful that the cool spring day would turn something up, and we were not disappointed!  During this early season, we usually leave the docks with no reports.  I did not let this fact discourage me, because we are members of the Pacific Whale Watch Association and know of all sightings in the area in real time.  I had my fingers crossed for cetaceans in the San Juans...

We had a wonderful early spring day out on the water. Gray skies and a little Pacific Northwest liquid sunshine never stop us from finding wildlife and having a great time. With nine hearty souls aboard the M/V Sea Lion left Friday harbor and headed North.

We spotted harbor porpoises on our way up towards Spieden Island, getting some looks at their well-camouflaged backs and dorsal fins in the small waves.  As we reached Green Point Captain Mike and I were delighted to find some...

We had a wintery day out on the water on Monday. Captain Mike and I headed north into Canadian waters on the search for whales and wildlife! We saw many bald eagles scattered trough the evergreen trees and enjoyed looking for harbor seals hauled out on the shores. We motored around Spieden and Flattop Islands, marveling at how beautiful the greenery of the islands looked under the low clouds.

We continued on our search pattern north into Boundary Pass, crossing over the large...

I often measure time in days, weeks, *gasp* months between whale encounters. In the winter orca encounters are sporadic, but as we creep into springtime there are more and more sightings and less and less time between those sweet moments.

This morning I rolled out of bed, ate some breakfast, took the dog for a walk at English Camp (look at the picture, she’s adorable), and then checked the reports from our Pacific Whale Watch Association member companies. I couldn’t help but grin...

We have had a great start to our 2017 season over the past two weekends, highlighted by a wintertime visit by some of the Southern Resident killer whales on Saturday the 18th.

In the winter we usually expect our Resident whales to be foraging for salmon off the coasts of Washington and Oregon, but, on occasion, they journey inland in search of fish. These winter trips here to the Salish Sea are often fleeting, usually lasting only a few days...