May 21, 2014

Killer Whales Save the Day!

After leaving our Friday Harbor location today and traveling the waters of the Salish Sea for the majority of our tour, captain Mike and I decided to head in the direction of San Juan Island. Guests aboard the M/V Sea Lion saw harbor porpoise, steller sea lions, harbor seals, and a wide variety of...Read more

May 10, 2014

J Pod Returns Home

Like many days in early spring when killer whales have no set pattern of occurrence, we left our Friday Harbor location without a confirmation of killer whales. However, when we got a possible report of transients headed through Active Pass, we decided to go check it out and see what we could see...Read more

May 5, 2014

Rare Encounter with 20+ Biggs Killer Whales!

We left our Friday Harbor location today and headed north with hopes of intercepting some killer whales that we had heard were traveling through the area. The weather definitely wasn’t cooperating- it was cold, windy, and rainy! However, a little weather never stops us when killer whales are...Read more

May 3, 2014

Transients in the Strait of Georgia

The M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor yesterday in search of the killer whales that inhabit the Salish Sea. When we got underway Captain Mike got a report of Biggs Killer Whales, or Transients, off the Southeast side of Galiano Island. Even though that was far into the Strait of Georgia, and into...Read more

September 30, 2013

Transient Orcas and Rainbows

When the M/V Sea Lion departed from the docks today it was down-pouring rain. We all stayed inside the cabin, where the heat was on to keep us warm while we weathered the storm. That however, didn't last long as we soon came upon a group of playful harbor porpoise to look at! They were all around...Read more

June 18, 2013

Transients and L-Pod together?!

Today Captain Mike, naturalist Caitlin and myself headed out of the San Juan Channel, through Cattle Pass and to the south end of the Haro Strait. We had heard rumors about the whale activity on the south end of the island and hoped to encounter L-Pod and even some transient killer whales! This...Read more

June 16, 2013

Transients on the South End

We headed South today from our Friday Harbor location and into the San Juan Channel where we promptly had to do a "man overboard" drill to retrieve one of our customers hats! The hat flew off and into the water, at which point Captain Mike swiftly turned the boat around and Caitlin and I retrieved...Read more

October 6, 2012

Steller’s Sea Lions Perform Full Breaches

Another busy day on the water with all the familiar faces of the Salish Sea. In addition to watching Transient Killer Whales south of D’arcy Island, British Columbia (48°30.86N, 123°16.48W), we also came across a lone California Sea Lion (a rarity in the Salish Sea). He was floating with just his...Read more

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