09/25/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today was a magical day out on the water, our guests were spoiled!  We headed South towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca and stopped to see some Steller’s Sea lions along the way.  Although these animals are amazing to see in action they don’t smell too great. 

We continued on and headed towards the city of Victoria through the glassy waters of the strait.  We made it just South of Race Rocks and spotted a humpback whale.  This humpback whale was a brit...

09/23/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

We had great reports leading up to today’s trip!  We headed South via San Juan Channel, towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where we had reports of some of our Southern Resident Killer Whales traveling West. 

On our way towards the whale reports we stopped at whale rocks to look at some Steller’s Sea Lions.  These huge animals, roughly 12 feet long and 2,500 pounds, were soaking up some sun on the rocks.  It is so nice to have these pinnipeds back in the...

09/22/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today we left Friday Harbor on a beautiful fall day, with a slight overcast and glassy seas.  We first got to see some harbor seals hauled out on some rocks off of Lopez Island.  We then headed to whale rocks where we got to see some Steller’s Sea Lions in and out of the water. 

As we were heading towards our orca reports for the day, we saw a big bait ball that intrigued us, so we made a pit stop.  We were lucky enough to see some minke whales lunge...

[Naturalist Sarah M. – 09/20/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 02:00pm]

Today was the embodiment of a perfect September day in the San Juan Islands. The clouds were high and we had periodic sun with some of the smoothest water I’ve ever seen in Haro Strait and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Sea Lions

Captain Mike and I were lucky to have a group of 16 wonderful guests out for our Adventure Whale Watch. Mike steered the boat south out of Friday Harbor, and we headed down San Juan Channel through...

09/17/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today was a wet one!  We had a rainy day on our hands, but thankfully whales area already wet so the rain doesn’t bother them. 

We left Friday Harbor and made a cruise around Spieden Island where we saw three Steller’s sea lions swimming in the water.  We also saw some of the exotic terrestrial animals that reside on the island as well as we cruised by.  We then headed to the North side of Orcas Island, where we spotted the T100’s and the T101’s.  The T101...

09/16/17- M/V Kestrel- 10AM & 2PM

We had two trips on M/V Kestrel and both were fantastic!  One of the many benefits of the zodiac vessel is its speediness, so it will allow you to cover more ground in a shorter period of time.   

On our first trip we were the first boat to find a group of Bigg’s killer whales, which is always very exciting!  We got reports for whales around Stuart Island so we headed in that direction and actively looked as we traveled around.  We found the T123’s...

09/13/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Our resident whales still seem to be sticking around!  We haven’t seen much of our resident whales this summer because of our record low salmon run, but today our guests were treated with the opportunity to see L pod. 

We headed down San Juan Channel and found the whales in Cattle pass.  When we first arrived we saw a few breaches and some other displays of social behavior.  The whales then shifted to a fast travel pattern while heading towards the...

09/04/17- M/V Kestrel- 10AM & 2PM

Today was by far one of the best days out on the water for me this season.  On our first trip we had a whale watching trifecta, which is when we see all three main species of whales that we watching this area; minke, humpback and orca.  On our second trip we got to see transients and our long missed resident whales, who were back in the area for the first time in 29 days.  Not only were the whales amazing, but we had enthusiastic and curious guests...

[09/08/2017- M/V Kestrel- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM]

Today brought some drizzle, fog, and cloud cover (which has brought the smoke down quite a bit, yay!), but by the afternoon we had some better visibility and could forge our way south to an orca whale report!

M/V Kestrel zipped down to Port Townsend, but not before stopping at a Tufted puffin in Cattle Pass! It’s very rare to be seeing these clownish birds in our range, much less on the south point of San Juan Island! It was so...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Kestrel, 8/28/17, 2:00PM]

            It was Captain Gabe and me again today, going out there to have a bunch of fun with folks aboard the Kestrel. We started on a longer than usual trip heading south, then west towards Victoria and Vancouver Island. We headed there and went further west, beyond Race Rocks – the furthest point south along Vancouver Island. We almost made it to Sooke when we saw the group of Transient (Bigg’s) Orcas that we were looking for...