Today was a great day on the M/V Kestrel, full of fun learning experiences for both the guests and myself.  We had reports of humpback whales just off of East Point in the Strait of Georgia.  We sped up that way in a quick effort to get to the sighting.  We quickly reached the whales and watched as a humpback mom and juvenile pair surfaced slowly in, what appeared to be, no directional pattern.  We continued to watch as the pair went through dive sequences and showed off their tail...

Today we were lucky enough to see a variety of pinniped species. Just outside of Friday Harbor was an unusual sight. There was a California sea lion hauled out on a buoy! It was the first time I've seen a California sea lion since I started last year! After getting a good look, we made our way to Spieden Island where there was a large group of at least six Steller sea lions were relaxing on the rocks. Along Spieden we spotted mouflon sheep and sika deer, as well as a juvenile bald...

Last evening we headed towards the southern tip of San Juan where Cattle Point Lighthouse is located.  This is our last week of sunset tours and I'm really going to miss the way that lighthouse looks against a setting sun.  That thought was interrupted when we spotted Stellar Sea Lions showing off their large bodies on Whale Rocks.  These sea lions can weigh up to 2200 lbs!  We continued up the west side of San Juan where we encountered the L-pod around False Bay.  The whales...

You could not ask for more out of the San Juan Islands than what we got today.  Sun, sea and sightings all wrapped up in one stunningly beautiful package.  The sea was a bit of a surprise today since we endured some bouncing around as we traveled up and around the north and west sides of San Juan Island.  But the orcas were racing along and made for excellent photo specimens, plus the spray in our faces just reminded us of how lucky we were to be out on the water.  When it was...

The Puget Sound is a very biologically diverse inland sea. We have many species of marine mammals, birds, invertebrates, algae and more.

The most popular marine mammal is the orca, which is actually the largest member of the dolphin family. Today's safari included lots of bald eagles, porpoises, seals and bull kelp (brown algae).

Bull kelp is very interesting and important to our ecosystem. It is a primary producer, using the sunlight to grow and ends up feeding many organisms....