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...

[Piper | 8/30/18 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM]

Today, Captain Gabe, Naturalist Mariana and I boarded the Sea Lion with a great group of guests and headed north from Friday Harbor, all the way up into the Canadian waters of the Strait of Georgia. It took a little while to get there but it was so worth it because when we arrived, we found five families of Bigg’s killer whales, made up of 20 or so orcas, socializing and traveling south. These orcas were lobbing their tails and spy-hopping...

[Sarah | 08/22/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 01:30 Classic Tour]

On Wednesday Captain Pete, naturalist Mariana, and I ventured out on the Salish Sea under smoky conditions. Though we have had record smoke from the surrounding area’s wildfires and light wind conditions making the smoke hang over the islands, our wildlife sightings have been unaffected.

We left Friday Harbor and headed south through San Juan Channel, catching glimpses of harbor porpoise and seals as we cruised through the flat...

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...

August 28- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30 pm

Yesterday we left the dock at Friday Harbor and went North towards British Columbia.  We came across a few families of transient orcas, specifically the T100’s and the T124D’s.  In total we had 8 whales milling about in the Strait of Georgia.  Those families include a nice variety of individuals from a sprouting male to a young juvenile.  The whales were in two groups and moving very erratically, which can be somewhat difficult to maneuver around to...

August 26- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30 pm

We left the dock at Friday Harbor and North towards a report of a few transient orcas.  We decided to spend some time at Spieden island to look for some of our other wildlife.  We got to see some bald eagles, harbor seal, and some introduced sheep.  After getting our fill of wildlife we went to find some whales!  We came across a sibling pair of transient orcas.  It was T65A3, who is 11 years old, and T65A4, who is 7 years old.  These two siblings...

Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with the crew had quite a day today! Heading out Naturalists Eric, Captain Gabe, and I were struggling to decide what group of orcas to go watch! There being a couple of reports of whales nearby from other boats, we decided to go through Upright Channel to the north side of Lopez to encounter a group. There were two young transient orca in this group traveling apart from their pod, which was further southwest. This was not typical behavior of two...

Jordan | August 21, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 trip

What a great day out on the water! Despite the fog and smoke that is still lingering around the San Juan Islands, we had a great day cruising around the Salish Sea.

We headed south down through the San Juan Channel and stopped by Whale Rocks to check out some Steller sea lions! These animals are HUGE and yet seem super elegant in the water…until they crawl up on land and lumber and roll around. We also saw some harbor seals that are...

Leaving the harbor aboard M/V Sea Lion with Captain Pete and naturalist Eric, I️ was excited to be on the water on such a sunny August day after a couple of foggy ones. There was a report of a humpback not too far away from us, so we decided to head that direction. 

Headed up north towards Waldron Island, we took a left out of the harbor into San Juan Channel. The guests were enthusiastic and many seemed very interested to learn about the conservation efforts being carried out...

Jordan | August 18, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 trip

What a beautiful evening trip in the San Juan Islands! As the sun started to set behind the picturesque clouds, we headed out of Friday Harbor to search for our whales. We headed south through the San Juan Channel and towards Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Before we reached Canadian waters, we found the whales! Suddenly we were surrounded by Southern Resident whales all around our boat! It was so exciting seeing the magnificent...