August 24, 2017

Tiny Humpback Hangs Out in the San Juans

[Naturalist Sarah C. 8/24/17 M/V Sea Lion 1:30 Departure] An itty bitty humpback has been spotted perusing the waters south of Lopez Island for three days in a row now. This little whale nubbin obviously favors his chosen location, and it's an unusual one for massive baleen whales like him to be...Read more
minke whale

August 9, 2017

Minke Whales, Steller Sea Lions, & Phalaropes

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 8/8/17, 5:30PM] Yesterday, Captain Pete and I embarked on a beautiful sunset cruise. It was a beautiful evening. The water as we left Friday Harbor was flat calm and almost looked unreal underneath the orange sunlight of late afternoon. We’ve been having some...Read more

August 7, 2017

Humpback Whale Survives Attack from Killer Whales

[Sarah C. 8/7/17 10am and 2pm Kestrel] Humpback whales are probably most well-known for their impressive flukes, featuring complex patterns varying from all black to all white, and everything in between. Displayed on every deep dive, humpback whale flukes are used as their main identifier in the...Read more
Humpback whale dorsal fin

August 1, 2017

Mother and Baby Humpback Whales Breach in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 7/30/17, 5:30PM] On Sunday, our sunset cruise was one of the most beautiful sunsets all summer. Captain Mike and I took our group of guests south in San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We first stopped and saw some adorable Harbor...Read more
Tufted Puffin

July 26, 2017

Transient Whales and a Tufted Puffin

[7/21/17- M/V Kestrel- 10AM & 2PM] We left Friday Harbor with the plans of heading South toward Puget Sound. We got reports of transient killer whales towards that area and decided to look for some additional wildlife on our way down. We made one of our common wildlife stops, the whale rocks,...Read more

June 28, 2017

[6/27/16 - M/V Sea Lion - 1:30PM] Marvelous Minke Whales!

Yesterday, our little heat wave finally broke so we are back in the safety of 60˚-70˚F. Captain Pete, Kelsey, and I headed out south to go find some wildlife. The Salish Sea is a mix and a crossroads of some many different things constantly changing with the seasons so every day is so different...Read more

September 26, 2016

Black and Whites of a Different Sort

The arrival of fall brings a lot of changes to the Salish Sea and the San Juans. Garry Oaks start to turn rusty brown, the air cools and the wind picks up, and seabirds start morphing into their winter plumage. Fall also brings the arrival of new species that spent the summer busy in the open...Read more

September 23, 2016

Humpback Whale Cartwheels in Spieden Channel!

Today was a cloudy day here in the San Juans, The islands look they do for most of the year, not the bright sunny days, but the cool green and grey days where the clouds begin just where the trees end. Captain Mike and I headed north towards Flattop and Spieden Islands to check a pretty common...Read more

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