Today was honestly such a beautiful day full of many wonderful moments. We met our people by the store and got suited up even though it seemed way too warm to put on those jackets. But, we soon cooled down as we jumped on the boat and sped out into the chilly sea. Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel and headed north through the San Juan Channel. 

First, we stopped by Spieden Island and checked out some Steller sea lions! They were just off the point playing in the water and rolling...

Piper | Sunday, May 26, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM & 3:00 PM

What a difference a day can make when it comes to weather in the Salish Sea! Today it was sunny as can be and I was out on the M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe and two great groups of guests! On both tours we headed north out of Friday Harbor and up into Boundary Pass! We spied some harbor seals and harbor porpoises along the way, but once in Canadian waters we came across a humpback whale! We were able to identify this...

Jordan | May 25, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 trip What a fantastic trip out in the San Juan Islands! Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel and sped out to adventure with our wonderfully excited guests.   We headed north through the San Juan Channel and spotted something beautiful right away! Bald eagles! Two gorgeous birds were seen soaring then perching on a tree on Spieden Island! You could definitely tell these birds were a mated pair. And Bald eagles mate for life!   Then we saw tons...

Jordan | May 25, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 trip

As 11:00 am rolled around, the rain was still pouring down. But all our guests were troopers! So we embraced the soggy adventure and headed out into the fog! Navigating purely on GPS technology as the islands hid behind layers of mist, we wound our way around the San Juan Islands.

Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel and we headed north through the San Juan Channel passing by Spieden Island as we headed into Canadian waters! Then...

Jordan | May 24, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 4:00 trip

It's me again! Today was such a fantastic trip out on the water. Despite the gray Washington clouds overhead, the wildlife definitely birghtened our day. Captain Gabe and I, and our 8 new best friends, adventured out to sea in one of the fastest boats in San Juan! The Kestrel.

We headed north through the San Juan Channel and immediately got lucky with some harbor seal sightings! Trying to escape the frigid water, they all squeezed onto...

Piper | Thursday, May 23, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 12:00 PM

The M/V Kestrel left the docks of Friday Harbor today at noon with me, an awesome group of guests, and the wonderful Captain Gabe. We headed north into San Juan Channel and before we could even get to speed, we spotted a bald eagle perched in some trees on Point Caution! Watching this eagle scan the waters of the channel was a great start to the trip! We picked up the pace and made it to the Wasp Islands where we came across a...

M/V Kestrel |Saturday, May 19th | Naturalist Alexandria | 11:00 AM

Today was an awesome day!  When we started our trip we didn’t have any firm reports to work off of, but we knew we were one of the first boats hitting the water so we were optimistic!  Captain Gabe and myself decided to head north up through San Juan Channel.   This ended up being a great call, because as we started heading up Captain Gabe got word on the radio that there were some big black and white things that had...

Piper | Saturday, May 18, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Today was another beautiful sunny day in the San Juan Islands and we took full advantage of it with reports of rain the next few days. We had a nice full boat aboard Kestrel today and left the dock heading north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was a couple Steller sea lions hanging out on Green Point on Spieden Island. These two stragglers looked to be the last of the Green Point colony remaining in the Salish Sea. We expect...

Erick | Friday, May 17, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00AM

 

Captain Gabe and I had an early trip on this day. It started out as cloudy, but you could see some blue skies poking out up there as well. We left with a full boat and headed north to see what we could find. We made our first stop at Flattop Island to look at a bunch of Harbor Seals sunning themselves on the rocky shoreline. They were all huddled on the eastern side since it seems seals hate to be in the wind, so they avoid it at...

Piper | Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Sitting down to write this blog I'm still reeling from what an awesome trip we had today on the M/V Kestrel. It started off so dreary in Friday Harbor today; the rain came overnight and dried up just before I got to the dock to clean up the boat, and luckily it held off the rest of our four hour trip! Captain Gabe and I headed out of the marina with our wonderful guests and pointed the boat south into San Juan Channel. It became...