[Sunday, 4/1/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            On Sunday, we went on another fun search for wonderful wildlife in the San Juan Islands! We headed north towards Spieden Island. We made a quick stop just south of Point Caution because there were four Bald Eagles fighting over some carcass right next to shore. They were super active and kept dive bombing each other with talons open! After they flew away we continued northward. We headed through Spieden Channel...

[Friday -  3/23/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     This Friday, Captain Mike and I took ourselves with a great group of guests out on a little adventure. We headed north on this nice spring day and pointed towards Spieden Island. We were on a search for exciting wildlife and our first stop was the eastern end of Spieden Island, called Green Point. Here we found one of the Steller Sea Lion colonies in the San Juans. This colony is only here in the winter months and...

[Saturday, 3/17/18 - 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

     We were blessed with yet another sunny day for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day. Captain Mike and I headed out again with a great group of guests and looked northward for exciting wildlife in the San Juan archipelago. We first stopped at Green Point on Spieden Island and looked at a large group of Steller Sea Lions rafting and swimming in the strong current streaming off of the point. This...

[Saturday, 3/3/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

This Saturday, we headed out again on another rare, sunny spring day! Captain Mike and I took our small group of guests north towards the outer islands of the San Juans and the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia. We made our first stop at Green Point (the eastern-most point on Spieden Island just north of San Juan). Here at Green Point is a favorite haul out spot for our largest pinniped species and the largest Sea...

10/4/17- M/V Sea Lion- 12PM

One common topic of conversation during our whale watching trips is Spieden Island, previously known as Safari Island. 

Spieden Island is the largest privately owned island in the San Juans.  It is roughly two miles long, so it is pretty substantial to say the least.  There are many rumors of who currently and previously have owned this island but one story in particular is best known.  Back in the 60’s three brothers, who were taxidermists, purchased the...

 M/V Sea Lion: Sunday 9/17 @ 12pm

An Early Autumn Afternoon

We started our whale watching trip on a gorgeous, cool and crisp early autumn afternoon.  Our enthusiastic group wasn’t going to let a few sprinkles of rain put a damper on our excitement for what was to come!  We loaded onto M/V Sea Lion- our trusty vessel for the trip- and departed on our adventure.  The crew offered fashionable rain slickers and blankets to anyone who wanted to ensure they keep dry, but mother nature...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Kestrel, 8/9/17, 2:00PM]

On our afternoon trip for the day, Gabe and I and all the lovely folks aboard started another exciting search for some cool marine wildlife. Our first stop was one of our favorites. We motored down to Whale Rocks. These two Islets emerge from the waves of Cattle Pass just southwest of Lopez Island. You can see them from the shores of both Lopez and San Juan, and when they are covered by our favorite pinnipeds you can definitely...

I drained a few tablespoons of sea water from the pocket of my rain jacket while recounting the details of yesterday’s wild adventure to our Sunday guests.  Today had to be a smoother ride, I promised, and indeed it was.  The skies were just as ominous, however, and the wise whale watchers left nothing to chance, immediately taking refuge in the protected cabin. 

Our first stop was the San Juan version of Jurassic Park:  Spieden Island.  In the late 1960s, two taxidermists from...

Yesterday, we saw a wide diversity of marine mammals. We cruised around the northern San Juan Islands and even went into the Gulf Islands of Canada for a quick bit. We saw a few Harbor Porpoise including a calf which was super tiny and super cute. We also saw several tons of Harbor Seals laying on the rocks around Flattop Island and swimming and twirling in the water. A young one pooped up and took a few minutes to check us out checking him out. We also saw all three species of the...

Today was a cloudy day here in the San Juans, The islands look they do for most of the year, not the bright sunny days, but the cool green and grey days where the clouds begin just where the trees end. Captain Mike and I headed north towards Flattop and Spieden Islands to check a pretty common place where marine mammals are found due to the currents that concentrate food in that area. We first spotted a Humpback Whale near Flattop Island. It was a young humpback that has been hanging...