Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Sarah | 06/03/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM 

I just got off the water after a lovely day spent with wonderful wildlife and inquisitive guests. We had amazing June weather to explore the Salish Sea and we took full advantage of the sunshine and calm seas to go exploring.

Captain Pete and I elected to head north through San Juan Channel towards Boundary Pass. We stopped at White Rock near Waldron Island to check out some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. These small pinnipeds are...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/02/19 | 5:30pm

As the sun sank lower in the sky, Captain Pete and I took off out of Friday Harbor to start our sunset cruise adventure. We headed north through the San Juan Channel towards Speiden Channel.

Then we heard whispers on the whale watcher’s radio that there were orcas headed past Victoria, around the southern tip of Vancouver Island and up into the Haro Strait! They were swimming towards San Juan Island, so we all got really excited at the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/02/19 | 12:00

Today Captain Erick and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor for a wonderful cruise around the islands. We, first, headed north through the San Juan Channel and passed the eastern tip of Speiden Island.

Then, we made a pitstop at Flattop Island! This beautiful national wildlife reserve hosted various birds flying overhead and a few harbor seals laying on the protected rocks. There was even one seal swimming gracefully through the water...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, June 2, 2019 | 3:00 PM

Today was an adventurous day aboard the M/V Kestrel. We began the trip with a decision of which way we wanted to go, as there were reports of great wildlife in many directions. We decided to head towards Victoria, because there were some promising reports of orcas that way. On the way, we went through some coastal upwelling, which was very fun, and then we got into some awesome waves. As I said, it was a grand adventure!

Once we...

Olivia | June 2nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Warm, sunny day in the San Juan Islands! I accompanied co-Naturalist Alexandria and Captain Gabe as we set out on our adventure tour. We headed north through the San Juan Channel past Shaw and Orcas Islands, and straight up to the Strait of Georgia where our whale sightings were being reported for the day. On route out there, near Jones Island, we found a group of Harbor Seals lounging about it the sun. These seals are currently at...

Alexandria | Saturday, June 1, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM 

What a beautiful evening!  The sun was shining, our group was ready to get on the water, and water was beautiful and glassy- it was the perfect beginning to our sunset evening Class Whale Watch.

We boarded M/V Sea Lion, excited about such gorgeous weather and ready to explore the area to see what we could find.  We started heading north out of Friday Harbor and headed up San Juan Channel.  As we were working our way up...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, June 1, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Today was an excellent day out on the water! The afternoon was seeming like it was going to be a beautiful, sunny one, so spirits were high amongst everyone. We left Friday Harbor and travelled north. We saw many harbor porpoises as we travelled north. They were abundant as we made our way toward East Point.

At East Point, we saw evidence of strong tidal currents and upwelling. It was neat to see. Near East Point we got our...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/01/19 | 3:00 pm

As we set out of Friday Harbor on our second trip of the day, everyone was really excited and ready for an amazing adventure to come. Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel and sped off towards the north and right to Speiden Island.

Right away we saw a gorgeous bald eagle! It was beautiful perching high in the trees close to the shoreline.

But then as we continued, we found more animals! The adorable harbor seals! One of them was hilarious as he...

Jordan | M/V Kestresl | 06/01/19 | 11:00am

Today was basically the most magical day. And no, I’m not being dramatic. It’s true. It started with our first trip leaving Friday Harbor at around 11:30am. And although it was a tad later than usual, it was definitely worth the wait!

Captain Gabe and I sped out of the harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel up towards Speiden Island. Here we stopped to check out some floppy seals! There were a bunch of harbor seals close to the...

Piper | Friday, May 31, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM

On our afternoon tour today the orcas that were spotted in the morning (the T65Bs, T75Bs, and T75Cs) had continued north so we left from Friday Harbor going north into San Juan Channel. When we arrived to Green Point on Spieden Island, a common haul-out site for Steller’s sea lions, at first we continued to motor past because it looked like all of the sea lions had left for Alaska, but Captain Gabe caught sight of some Stellers in...