Olivia | July 10th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We had the most adventurous ‘Adventure Tour’ yet this season! Gearing up for the trip, Captain Brian decided to take a risk and head towards our only Killer Whale reports down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, almost bordering Haro Strait. On our way south near Cattle Point, we stopped at Whale Rocks to view Harbor Porpoises (which we saw right at the dock) and many sea birds such as Cormorants. Here’s where the adventure truly began! It...

Laura C. | 7-9-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

A picturesque mountainous scene was in store for all aboard M/V Kestrel today!  The weather along the Salish Sea turned swells and whitecaps of the Pacific Ocean into transparent glass, creating a mirror image of all the beauty surrounding our vessel.  This sparkling emerald liquid was a nice contrast to the rocky snowy edges of Mount Baker and northern jagged mountain ranges.  Our boat sliced a clean cut through the water as we made our...

Olivia | July 8th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Perk of being on the 3:00pm tour, is that our 11:00am has already scoped out the area to know where our potential whale sightings are. Captain Pete and I were confident on seeing both Humpback Whales and Killer Whales up in Boundary Pass, so we started off by heading north through the San Juan Channel to find them! We ended up near the same family group as this morning, the T65A’s, and watched as they milled around and provided us with...

Olivia | July 8th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Captain Pete and I started off the trip by heading north towards Boundary Pass where we caught word of some potential whale sightings. On our way there we decided to stop at White Rocks and catch a glimpse at some Harbor Seals. Did you know that anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks after they give birth to their pups, the males swoop in to breed all over again? Ouch. Am I right, moms? 

As we continued further up peeking into Boundary...

Olivia | July 7th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today we started our adventure tour by finding two bald eagles right away inside Friday Harbor! Such a good spot after finishing the wildlife talk. We decided to head south down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where two of our whale sightings were. On the way down, we stopped at Whale Rocks and Spotted Harbor Seals snoozing along the shoreline as well as heaps of Gulls and Cormorants. Did you know the bodies of the...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Saturday, July 6, 2019

Our afternoon trip on Kestrel today was dream-like! We left Friday Harbor and headed south toward Cattle Point! Once we arrived at Cattle Point, we got a beautiful view of the lighthouse, and then we swung past Whale Rocks. There were harbor seals hauled out on Whale Rocks, and some of them were swimming around in the water. We also saw 4 Steller's sea lions swimming around in the water. They were swimming altogether, and we got...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Saturday, July 6, 2019

What an amazing trip aboard Kestrel this morning! We started our trip heading north out of Friday Harbor. We found out that members of the critically endangered Southern Resident population were travelling from Canada into U.S. waters! We headed toward Waldron Island and saw the orcas inshore towards Saturna Island. They were members of J pod. The Southern Residents haven't been back into the inland waters of the Salish Sea for a...

Piper | Friday, July 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM

After a wonderful morning on the water the afternoon promised to be just as exciting, and it sure did deliver! Captain Gabe and I headed out again on the M/V Kestrel and the orcas that we traveled out to in the morning were now just south of Friday Harbor!

We pulled up to the T65As and watched as they traveled through the channel along the shores of Lopez Island. They took a couple moments to entertain the small toddler born just...

Piper | Friday, July 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00AM

Today was oddly chilly, dreary, and drizzly for a day in July in the San Juan Islands, but it was one heck of a day for whale sightings!! The M/V Kestrel was crewed today by me and Captain Gabe and for our morning trip we headed out to a report of Bigg’s killer whales near Blakely Island.

We arrived on scene with the whales on a deep dive and when they surfaced they were very close to Blakely, coming up in different directions, on...

Olivia | July 4th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 5:30pm 

What a fun Fourth of July! We started off both our 11:00am and 3:00pm tours seeing Bald Eagles, Harbor Porpoises and Harbor Seals. Would it really be Independence Day if we didn’t see any Bald Eagles? We even got the chance to see a Harbor Seal pup cuddling with its mother on the coastal shore of Flattop Island. I may have gotten particularly excited since it was my person first pup sighting of the season. This was thrilling...