Gabe and I were ready to take off on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon. We had a half full boat and the guests were enjoying the warm breeze and bright view of the islands as we headed up the San Juan Channel. We had been with a group of transient orcas, who have been hanging around the islands for the past month or so, all day and now we were headed out to catch up to them again. They had traveled all the way from South end of Lopez and up past Waldron Island in just a few hours we...

It was the warmest evening we had so far this season and the sunset tour was just about to kick off with some reports of killer whales East of Orcas Island. We didn’t yet know what group of whales were over there, but we decided to head that way and find out! The wind was amazingly warm and most of the guests were gladly sitting at the vow. We had some excited guests and even a birthday on board! We decided to head towards Rosario Strait going up Upright Channel and then through...

It was a beautiful morning on the San Juan’s, starting to finally feel like summer! Sun shining and not too breezy! We had an excited crew on board and Captain Gabe along with naturalist Jordan and I were headed south down the San Juan Channel to go look for some orcas we heard were hanging out on the west side of San Juan. Talk was that this was Jpod (one of the southern resident orca pods) I had not seen them since September of 2017 and I was giddy about getting to see my favorite...

[Tuesday, 6/12/18 - M/V Sea Lion - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

Another grand day in the San Juan Islands! It did start out a little grey, but was still pretty warm for June as Captain Gabe and I headed north with a great group of people aboard the M/V Sea Lion. We traveled up past Spieden, Johns, and Stuart Islands until we reached Boundary Pass. Here we started to see some blows against the cloudy grey sky reflected in the still waters of the Salish Sea. It was Orcas! It was a super...

Tuesday, June 5, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon

When we left the dock today there were no reports for orcas in the Salish Sea, so our plan was to head north toward Boundary Pass to see what we could find, but just as we rounded Point Caution to the north of our little town, the radio sounded off with great news! A group of Bigg’s killer whales had been sighted south of Lopez Island! Captain Gabe, naturalists Rachel, Mariana, and myself turned the boat around and headed south...

Saturday, June 2, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon

 When Captain Gabe, lead naturalist Captain Sarah, new naturalist Jordan, and I pushed off the docks this afternoon, we never could have imagined the incredible sight we were about to witness. There were reports of orcas to the north, so, leaving the marina we turned left up San Juan Channel. Just as we rounded Point Caution we spotted a bald eagle perched atop a conifer overlooking the sea and stopped to get a closer look.

We then...

Friday, June 1, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 PM

What. A. Day! Captain Gabe, myself, and our guests headed out of Friday Harbor this afternoon to a report of whales on the southeast corner of Lopez Island. We started off by heading south through San Juan Channel, stopping at a haul-out of harbor seals which were especially well-camouflaged to resemble the outcropping of rock on which they were resting. We continued south until we reached Whale Rocks where we spotted a sea otter which was...

[Sunday, 5/27/18 - M/V Kestrel - 2:00PM - Naturalist Erick]

This Sunday was another beautiful, sunny day during Memorial Day Weekend. Captain Mike and I headed out on M/V Kestrel to go find some super cool creatures to watch and learn about. We went north first towards Flattop Island and made a quick stop there to look at some Harbor Seals that were sunning themselves on rocky shoreline. There was a ton of them resting there and a few blinked their sleepy eyes back at us. Then a...

[Sarah – 05/13/2018 – M/V Kittiwake – 12:00pm]

Mother’s Day, and it was my first trip on M/V Kittiwake for the year! I love taking groups out on our smallest boat, because I really get to know the folks onboard, and we can tailor the trip to a smaller group’s needs. Captain Pete and I left the dock with no reports of whales in the area, so we decided to embark on our own search pattern. Soon into our trip we got a report of a humpback whale in the Strait of Georgia and decided to...

[Sunday, 5/13/18 - M/V Kestrel - 1:00PM - Naturalist Erick]

Happy Mothers’ Day!

This Sunday, Captain Brian and I left Friday Harbor looking for all the wonderful whales and wildlife out here. We started out by going north through San Juan Channel and made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island to check out the remaining Steller Sea Lions resting on the point. There were a group of about 20 adult male Steller Sea Lions wrestling and growling at each other. These amazing...