09/11/17- M/V Sea Lion- 12PM

Today we left Friday Harbor with reports that our resident whales were still in the area.  We headed towards salmon bank, a common feeding place for the whales, to take a look. 

We came across the five females and juveniles that make up the L12’s.  The male of the family L41, was a little further South from the reset of the group.  It is not uncommon for the whales to spread out long distances for feeding in order to cover more surface area.   The...

09/10/17- M/V Sea Lion- 12PM

Today our guests were lucky enough to spend some time with our southern resident killer whales.  These animals were not in the area for 29 days prior to their recent arrival, so our guests were exceptionally fortunate to get to hang out with them. 

The orcas were on the south side of San Juan Island, near false bay, so we headed around San Juan channel and stopped at whale rocks to see some harbor seals and Steller’s sea lions.  We are finally seeing our...

09/01/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today some of our best known transient orcas were on the North side of Orcas Island, not a far boat ride from Friday Harbor. 

We headed up president’s channel where we looked at some beautiful seaside homes and saw some wildlife including some harbor seals and harbor porpoises.  We then headed around the North side of Orcas Island where we got a beautiful view of Mt. Baker.  Mt. Baker is about 10,500ft in elevation and is part of the Northern Cascade...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 8/31/17, 1:30PM]

            On Thursday, Captain Pete, Rachel, and I took a great group of folks out on a wildlife watching adventure! We started out by heading west towards Vancouver Island to search for large baleen whales to the south of the Canadian city of Victoria. After crossing Haro Strait we saw a blow off in the distance! As we got closer we saw a small Humpback Whale swimming near Constance Bank. This one was a young one, but that...

09/01/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

M/V Sea Lion departed from Friday Harbor and headed South to go find one of the best-known transient orca families in the area. 

The T65A’s are a family consisting of a 31-year-old female and her four offspring.  This family is considered one of the most successful transient families in the Salish Sea because of the reproductive success and varied prey choices.  T65A, theoretically, still has 15+ years of reproduction left and she already has four surviving...

08/30/17- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30PM

Today we were lucky enough to find some transient killer whales on the North side of Orcas Island.  Specifically, we were looking at the T36A’s, a nice group of whales consisting of females and juveniles. 

People commonly ask the naturalists about the whale’s movement patterns and where we find the animals day to day.  When we wake up in the morning we never know where we may be traveling for our tour that day.  These animals move, on average, about 100...

[09/12/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 12:00PM]

Boy, was today foggy! As we left Friday Harbor on M/V Sea Lion, the day was overcast, but visibility was great! Then juuuust as we hit Cattle Point on the south side of San Juan Island, we hit a wall of fog in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. But, that wasn’t going to dampen our spirits! We were determined to find orca whales.

We were talking with boats out on the water who were with Southern resident killer whales, but we even had to...

[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 09/07/17, 1:00 pm Private Charter]

It's a big deal every year right after labor day in Roche Harbor - Ranger Tug Rendezvous is happening! Lots of these beautiful boats are docked in the harbor right now, and dealers and enthusiasts alike are wandering the docks, sharing their stories, talking about the boats, and enjoying the beauty of San Juan Island. Naturalist Piper, Captain Pete, and I had the chance to take some of these wonderful folks out on a whale watch today...

[09/5/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 1:30PM]

Smoke and clouds were overcasting the skies today, but luckily that provided for some awesome whale watching! The seas were glassy, there was no glare from sunlight, and looking for dark whale bodies surfacing for air against a light gray sea was easy as pie.

M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor and headed south through Cattle Pass and towards Salmon Bank. A “bank” is what we refer to as a shallow portion of water out here in our...

[Naturalist Sarah C. 9/3/17 M/V Sea Lion 1:30pm departure]

Transient orcas have been spotted in the dozens around the San Juans this week. It's not always the case that we get to choose which whale sighting we pursue on our daily departures from Friday Harbor. With multiple families spotted within our range, we chose a company favorite for today's adventure - the T65A's.

Orcas, as a species, are matriarchal, meaning that the oldest female in a family group is in charge. For...