Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 9, 2021 | 5:30pm

Our Wednesday night sunset tour began with us racing north up San Juan Channel to catch the reported 8 Bigg’s Killer Whales before they crossed the US-Canadian Border. We witnessed this same group hours earlier at the Southern end of San Juan Island, and knew their travel pattern was taking them up along the West side of the island heading North. In the group, we saw T65A Mother (Female, 1986) with her calves T65A2 (Male, 2004), T65A3...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | June 9th, 2021 | 12:30pm 

Heading south through San Juan Channel, we started our whale watching adventure by checking in on a whale rumor in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. By the time we passed Cattle Point Lighthouse, we caught sight of black dorsal fins on the southwest side of San Juan Island. This was a delighted sight since the initial reports were far south in an area called Hein Bank, a shallow bank in the big waters if the strait. Bigg’s Killer Whales and...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | 06/08/2021 | 12:30pm

Today’s trip was spectacular! We departed North out of Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel. We traveled into President Channel where we spotted vessels gathered near the Canadian Border and Patos Island. The currents were flowing and rippling due to active upwelling - the process of nutrient-rich, cold water being pushed from the seafloor up towards the surface. The Salish Sea is full of phytoplankton and nutrients that support the...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | June 5th, 2021 | 12:30pm

Leaving the dock today, our Captain decided to push north towards some whale rumors creeping in from Speiden Channel. This made the easy decision to move north through San Juan Channel in hopes of seeing some large, black and white dolphins before they swam into Canada. With Covid-19 border restrictions still in effect, we are unable to view any whales in Canada as of right now, meaning we work as hard as possible to navigate around...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | May 31st, 2021 | 12:30pm

Congratulations to anyone in the islands today- it was officially the hottest day all year! We spend every day out on the water with multiple layers on despite the temperature because these waters stay around 47 degrees year-round. With that wind flooding off the cool water, it makes for chilly trips even in the dead of summer. Lucky us! We had a lack of wind, blue skies stretched as far as we could see, and degrees. In the 3 years I...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | May 30th, 2021 | 12:30pm

Our sunny Sunday started off with heaps of Pigeon Guillemots exploring the inner Friday Harbor as we slowly made our way out of the hustle and bustle of the holiday traffic. Scouting out reports from multiple directions around the San Juan Islands, we made the decision to head north up San Juan Channel in the direction of the outer islands!

We were able to pass not only more Pigeon Guillemots, but also Rhinoceros Auklets, a variety of...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | May 29th, 2021 | 12:30pm

Kicking off Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we left the dock with Koma Kulshan (Mount Baker) standing tall on the blue horizon as the water below sparkled in the mid-morning sun. Captain Gabe decided to start our adventures south through San Juan Channel. With the glassy water laid out in front of us, it made our ventures easy to spot Harbor Porpoise surfacing for a warm breath of air. These chocolate chip dorsal fins really stand out...