M/V Kestrel | Naturalist Alexandria | 11AM | June 24th, 2019

What a great day out on the water it was!  When we initially boarded on M/V Kestrel we had no firm reports to work off of, but by the time we had gotten everyone boarded and pushed ourselves off the dock, Captain Gabe and Captain Pete received word of an orca sighting off of Matia Island!

Matia Island is north of Orcas Island so we took a left after leaving Friday Harbor and headed north up San Juan Channel.  We stopped and...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Sunday, June 23, 2019 | 1:30 PM

Today was a lovely day out on the water! We began the trip with a harbor seal in the harbor right by our boat! We then left Friday Harbor and headed north toward a report of a humpback whale. On our way, we saw harbor porpoises in San Juan Channel. We ended up near Patos Island and got an excellent view of the lighthouse. We then got to see a bald eagle's nest! Their nest can be 6 feet deep and weigh 2,000 pounds! There was even a...

Laura C. | 6-22-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

The 5:30pm whale watch was gorgeous!  We headed north aboard M/V Sea Lion and were ecstatic to find two families traveling together near Patos Island, T36As and T65As!  There was no mistaking the large teenage male of the T65A family as he cruised along with his mother and siblings.  The calf seemed very energetic this evening and may have been excited to be a part of a special social gathering with another family.  Watching the...

Laura C. | 6-22-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Greetings from the sea!  The M/V Sea Lion had an awesome day out on the water cruising along some fun waves and a windy breeze!  We headed north and first stopped along Flattop Island for some exciting commotion with several bald eagles circling overhead.  There was definitely some social gathering occurring or perhaps a nice meal under the trees because the eagles were so active!  We also saw some furry creatures scurrying up the rocks...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/21/19 | 12:00pm

The sun shone high in the sky on this lovely Friday in Friday Harbor! Almost immediately, the crew received reports of whales not too far away, so everyone got really excited.

Captain Pete, Naturalist Erin and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of the harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. Passing between San Juan and Lopez, we boated past Cattle Point lighthouse, a beautiful southern point to our island. Then, we turned...

Laura C. | 6-20-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 pm

Our second trip on the 5:30 whale watch was spectacular!  We headed north and found T124As traveling right around Saturna Island!  The water was glass calm and as we were the only vessel in the area, the surrounding waters were quite peaceful!  We passed a couple of bald eagles perched on a surrounding rock formation and even spotted a juvenile bald eagle!  The calf of the T124A family was quite active and we were able to see most of the...

Laura C.| 6-20-19 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a spectacular day out on the water!  We traveled south through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point and our first marine mammal encounters consisted of Steller’s sea lions!  It was so exciting to get some up close and personal looks at these charismatic creatures basking in the sun and jumping in and out of the cool water.  There were a couple of massive males present on the rocks as well!  These sea lions were quite active today and...

Piper | Wednesday, June 19, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Today was a bit of a blustery day in the Salish Sea, but Captain Gabe, Laura, and I had an awesome group of folks on the Sea Lion and we headed north into San Juan Channel on the lookout for all sorts of wildlife! There was a report of a lone male Bigg’s killer whale in Canadian waters so we headed that way and spied a bald eagle in the trees on Spieden Island and some harbor porpoises nearby!

We arrived on scene shortly...

Naturalist Alexandria | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM | June 18th, 2019

Today was a great day on the water!  We started out the day with a report of Bigg’s Killer Whales off Waldron Island.  We decided to head north to go check out these reports.

Today was a pretty windy day out on the water so we were happy to hear that conditions were calmer through San Juan Channel and up to Boundary Pass where these whales were spotted.  This was great news because based on the wind trends we had...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/17/19 | 12:00pm

What an unbelievably special day out on the water! The sun was shining brightly in the sky and filled everyone with excitement immediately. Captain Erick, naturalist Piper and I took our largest boat, the M/V Sealion out of Friday harbor towards promising prospects up north. We went up through the San Juan Channel, past Flattop Island and into Boundary Pass.

With Canada in the distance, we spotted our whales off the north point of Stuart...