Olivia Esqueda | Friday, March 14th, 2025 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

This was the first tour of the year for both me and Captain Gabe, and it was definitely an exciting one! We started off the trip by heading north through San Juan Channel, where there has been an increase of whale activity over the past few days. Right away we were spotting many different birds including Pelagic Cormorants, Common Murres, Harlequin Ducks, Rhinoceros Auklets, and many, many more! Most notably, we saw at least a...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | September 3rd, 2024 | 12:30pm

We are officially running our daily classic tours aboard M/V Sea Lion which tends to be a favorite vessel of our naturalist staff. Starting off the day, it sure felt like fall as we headed south into the fog. After a brief stop at Goose Island to check out some Harbor Seals thermoregulating on the shoreline, Double Crested Cormorants nesting on top of the island, and Pelagic Cormorants drying out their wings, we headed into the Strait of Juan...

Olivia | San Juan Safaris | August 19th, 2024 

After a long hiatus while getting our NEW website up and running, our daily blogs are back! 

We will be documenting whale and wildlife sightings daily from all three of our vessels to provide a sneak peak of where we’ve been traveling and what wildlife has been visiting the Salish Sea- while hopefully teaching you something along the way. We will also be providing bonus material for extra education and conservation topics, and photos of course! 

Every...

What do Orca Naturalists in the San Juan Islands Actually Do?

“So, what do you do for work?” Anytime that I travel, or really any time that I find myself talking to a stranger, the "career" question always comes up.

“I am a marine naturalist, with a primary focus on killer whales or orcas, in the...