Olivia | September 22nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We started off our Adventure Trip by heading north through Spieden Island. To our surprise, the entire island was so lush green in just a matter of one week with the amount of rain we have gotten. We looked at Mouflon Sheep for quite a bit before heading into Haro Strait to check out the body of water to see if any whales were around. After that we headed north through John’s Pass where we saw heaps of Harbor Seals floating around...

Olivia | July 16th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Today was a gorgeous day out on the water! We had multiple sightings reported for whales in our area, and Captain Gabe decided to go with our best option of heading south just a wee bit before passing between Shaw and Lopez Islands. Between these islands we saw three Bald Eagles and a Bald Eagle Nest! These large birds of prey are considered to be monogamous by returning to the same nest with the same mate year after year. They...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/05/19 | 5:30pm

Today was truly one of my favorite whale watches of the season!

It started with the sun starting to sink lower in the sky as Captain Erick and I loaded the boat with all our passengers and headed out of Friday Harbor. We boated up around the south side of Shaw Island right next to Canoe Island and almost immediately found orca whales!

We were so lucky to find the T65As right away only a few minutes from the harbor. As we arrived, this...

Laura C. | 7/2/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It was quite an adventure in the Salish Sea today on M/V Sea Lion!  Passengers embraced the wind and swirling seas like seasoned mariners, in hopes of momentarily connecting with these graceful and somewhat mysterious sea creatures.  Luckily our voyage was to close by Shaw Island, a trifle trip compared to journeys the Sea Lion is capable of enduring.  The rain and fog created breathtaking views of the treetops of surrounding islands...

Naturalist Alexandria | M/V Sea Lion | June 11, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an awesome evening tour we had today!  We were with orcas earlier today for our noon tour, but had heard on the radio once we got back that the orcas we were had headed out of the area by the time we were ready for our sunset trip.  This is always possible, one time of day for a trip isn’t better than the other, but our whales here can swim over 100 miles in one day, so it is always possible that we have them for one...

Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with naturalist Rachel, Captain Pete and I were ready to get out on the water on this CLEAR and sunny August day! After two long weeks of wildfire smokes in our area and no visibility, it was a treat to get to see the mountain ranges in the distance. Already looking like a good day with a report from another boat who had Humpbacks south of Cattle Pass. After boarding the boat and familiarizing our guests with the natural history of the area, we left...

Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with Cpt. Pete, naturalist Erick and I were excited to get on the water on this beautiful day with a report of orcas almost within our reach. Eager to get everyone on the boat and ready to pick up speed we took off hopeful to get to see these animals.

As of earlier, only one whale sighting from way up north had been reported. With no other reports in our area, we quickly headed up the San Juan Channel with plans to take Boundary Pass into the Strait...

Captain Mike seemed antsy to board our guests and depart on the day’s safari.  The skies were dark and brooding, but there wasn’t a puff of wind and the channel outside of Friday Harbor was calm.  By the time we left the dock, the wind had cranked up and white caps busted against the bow, blurring the line between sea and surface as sheets of salt spray soaked the aft deck. 

Fortunately another captain in the whale watching fleet had sighted killer whales near Lopez Island and we...

It was busy out in San Juan Channel today with the 44th annual Shaw Island Classic Yacht Races, but it was definitely a great day for a sail and even a whale watch! For many of the sailors out there and our lucky guests, we were afforded some incredible looks at our Transient Killer Whales. Only ten minutes out of the harbor and we were already watching the Transient Orcas making their way back towards Friday Harbor. At one point they took a quick turn towards the inside passage of...

Today we found 5 Transient Orcas headed west in Rosario Strait between Cypress and Orcas Island (48°31.68N 122°48.62W). It was the T36’s and T39’s who appeared to be finishing off part of a kill. They were circling around the area and aggressively deep diving towards the center, gathering any remains. Once they were done they headed directly for the shoreline and picked up speed.

On our way in we took a scenic ride through some of the inner islands passing Blakely, Orcas, Shaw...