Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | May 25th, 2025 | 2:00pm

Today’s 2pm Adventure Whale Watch headed out of Friday Harbor in search of whales under sunny skies. We began heading south in San Juan Channel, spotting harbor porpoises and a few harbor seals before making a quick stop at Goose Island to view cormorants and the Cattle Point Lighthouse. We continued south west through Cattle Pass towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and eventually saw a few other boats ahead of us among a group of Bigg’s...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | Friday, May 25th 2025 | 2pm

The weather was nearly perfect as we took a right out of Friday Harbor and pointed south. Our first wildlife encounter of the day was a humpback whale just off Salmon Bank. In just the past week, humpbacks sighting have become more and more frequent! This is exactly the time of year they began making their way into the Salish Sea from their winter breading grounds in either Hawaii or Mexico. This humpback was likely feeding here at salmon bank, a...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | Sunday, May 18th 2025 | 12pm

My very first Adventure Tour of the year was filled with incredible wildlife encounters! We started the trip with a stop in Rocky Bay for some harbor seals. A rocky cluster hosted over 50 harbor seals, lounging on the rocks or swimming in the shallow water close by. Guests loved seeing the wide variety in coat patterns unique to the Salish Sea!

Next stop, killer whales! Only about a 5 minute cruise north, a group of killer whales identified as the...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, May 17th | 2:00 PM

Today’s Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour was about as poetic as they come. The fan-favorite Bigg’s Killer Whale family the T123’s were found swimming near the islands that two of them were named after! The matriarch of the family T123 is named “Sidney” after Sidney  Island. Sidney Island is a Canadian island located in northwest Haro Strait. T123’s youngest daughter T123D/Darcy, is named after D’Arcy Island (a small island right below Sidney)...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Friday, May 9th | 2:00 PM

Today we had a special encounter with Humpback Whale BCX1057, also known as Divot. Divot is a 22-year-old female North Pacific Humpback from the Maui breeding population. Divot is the first (presumed) calf of the legendary BCY0324 “Big Mama.” Big Mama has been observed in the Salish Sea for the past 20 years. Big Mama was one of the first humpbacks that reclaimed this region as viable for migration and feeding post whaling era. Commercial Whaling...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, May 3rd | 2:00 PM

Today was our season opener aboard the M/V Kestrel, also known as our adventure tour! This zodiac is the fastest vessel in our fleet, and a crew favorite. The M/V Kestrel is double the speed of our other boats, expanding our range 20+ miles, allowing for a wider range of trip itineraries. Today we went the furthest northwest I’ve ever been on one of our boats! Taking a trip through the iconic Sansum Narrows. This passageway between Vancouver...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 29th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Today was the perfect afternoon as Captain Vaun and I headed out on our last trip of the season together. We left Friday Harbor and began traveling north up San Juan Channel to follow up on some reports of whales near Sidney, BC. As we passed Spieden Island, we stopped to look at a few harbor seals hanging out on some small islands before continuing to the Haro Strait. Once we were nearing the Canadian Border, we suddenly saw the dorsal...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 22nd, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Our afternoon brought us on another great adventure in the Salish Sea! We left Friday Harbor under cloudy skies, and quickly made our way north as we had some exciting reports in the Strait of Georgia in Canada. We made a quick stop to look at a group of harbor seals on some islands in San Juan Channel, but soon continued on to the north. As we neared the Canadian border, the rain began to pick up but we were not deterred! We continued...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | September 21st, 2024 | 2:00 pm

The T049 matriline owned the inter-island zone today. Reports were coming in with members from this famous family along multiple sides of Lopez Island. T049C was headed north in San Juan Channel, T049A1 was heading south in Rosario Strait and the rest of the T049A1’s (minus T049A2/Jude) were hanging out in Thatcher Pass! Captain Eric and I were excited to get on the water for this T049 family affair, but where to begin? T049C/Nielson made that...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | September 18th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Our 2:00 pm Kestrel tour was a perfectly well-rounded wildlife tour. We often see different species of whales and wildlife out on the water, but to see as much as we did today is rare. We saw species from three of the five major categories of marine mammals: cetaceans, pinnipeds and even a mustelid! We started our tour by heading south in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to search the kelp bed off Turn Island for a rumored sea otter. Sea...