Today we left Friday Harbor with a report of a humpback near East Point.  On our way to the humpback whale we spotted a Stellar sea lion feeding in San Juan Channel.  We then headed through President channel towards the humpback which was slowly heading North towards Vancouver.  We got a little North of East Point, located in the Strait of Georgia, when we came across the humpback whale.  The whale we were watching was the female known as "Big Mama", a whale that frequents these...

Howdy from a very sunny and warm Friday Harbor!

This afternoon we had an awesome trip out on the Salish Sea. We left the harbor and immediately had a bald eagle fly over our boat, and a little while later we had an eagle fishing right off the bow! Eagles cannot retract their talons once they have sunk them into a fish, so they have to be careful about the size of fish that they attempt to catch. A fish that is too large might pull the eagle under the water, so they are very selective...

We departed the docks today with sunny skies above. It would seem like every day in the San Juan's is just as beautiful as the next; however, today was clear enough so that we had a panoramic view of the Cascade mountain range with Mt. Baker in the center,  as well as Mt. Rainier and the Olympics. Guests got a spectacular view of these mountains as we headed out through the San Juan Channel and out through cattle Pass. It wasn't long before we started seeing what everyone wanted to...

As we left San Juan Island yesterday, everyone couldn’t help but comment on what a phenomenal day it was.  Sunny skies, no wind, and flat calm glassy waters- oh, and the 40 or so killer whales that were in the area helped a little too! As Captain Mike, Chelsea and I motored out into the San Juan Channel, we made our way up to the north end of the Island where we met up with J and L Pod. For those of you who are just tuning in, J and L Pod are made up of Southern Resident Orcas, a...

When the M/V Sea Lion departed from the docks today it was down-pouring rain. We all stayed inside the cabin, where the heat was on to keep us warm while we weathered the storm. That however, didn't last long as we soon came upon a group of playful harbor porpoise to look at! They were all around our boat and were foraging in the San Juan Channel. And, as we continued on, we were able to see about forty steller sea lions! It was great, these guys are about 2,000 pounds of sheer fat...

On  this unusually sunny afternoon (for fall at least), M/V Sea Lion left San Juan Island and prepared to go the distance. We were on our way to Victoria, BC where there were reports of some whales! On our way out we came across some dalls porpoise in the San Juan Channel. The dalls were playing in our wake then, as quickly as they surfaced, disappeared. It was a nice surprise, and we also got to spend some time with steller sea lions!

When we got on seen in the Straight of Juan de...

The M/V Sea Lion went North today in hot pursuit of a Transient Orca. What's funny is that we started out heading south, but as Captain Mike pulled a U-Turn in the San Juan Channel we knew something was up! He informed us that there was a report of T-21 heading north in Canada and we were in reach of seeing her! A lot of times, we head out with no Orca reports then change our course throughout the trip because Transient- mammal hunting Orcas- popped up!

As we headed into Canada...

Today we headed south out the San Juan Channel, into Cattle Pass and out to Salmon Bank. It was sunny and beautiful for fall! Along the way we had some great looks at harbor porpoise, harbor seals and even some steller sea lions. The marine mammals were all foraging in the strong tidal currants that stirred the fish making it easier for them to catch them! When we got out to Salmon Bank we came across a mike whale. We spent a while with this guy who was taking us in every which...

Kittywake departed from our Friday Harbor location today as the sun was still high. This morning was pretty foggy so we were all happy that the weather took a turn for the best! We had calm waters, little wind, and clear skies for our afternoon whale watch.

We headed out through the San Juan Channel, into Cattle Pass and onto the West side of San Juan Island, just south of Lime Kiln Lighthouse. We caught up with our L-Pod members, Mystery and Wave Walker! They were foraging and...

Today M/V Sea Lion chartered a wedding group early on leaving from our Friday Harbor location. It was a little foggy as we headed out the San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass, but that soon lifted just in time for our party to see some dorsal fins in the distance! It was soon to be one of the best wedding presents for the bride and groom to be!

Or Orcas were foraging along Eagle Point, off the West side of San Juan Island. Captain Brian and I quickly identified the whales as our...