Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Wednesday, May 16 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon

The M/V Sea Lion left Friday Harbor today and headed south into the glorious San Juan sunshine towards a report of two humpback whales near Salmon Bank, just off Cattle Point. Captain Pete, naturalist Rachel, myself, and our guests arrived on scene to find a giant humpback whale pectoral fin waving in the air! Humpback pectoral fins are up to 15 feet in length and we watched as this animal showed us its left pec, then its right pec, then...

[Sunday, 5/13/18 - M/V Kestrel - 1:00PM - Naturalist Erick]

Happy Mothers’ Day!

This Sunday, Captain Brian and I left Friday Harbor looking for all the wonderful whales and wildlife out here. We started out by going north through San Juan Channel and made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island to check out the remaining Steller Sea Lions resting on the point. There were a group of about 20 adult male Steller Sea Lions wrestling and growling at each other. These amazing...

[Friday, 5/11/18 - M/V Sea Lion - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

It’s sunny weather here again in the San Juan Islands and it’s definitely starting to feel like summer. On Friday before Mother's’ Day Captain Pete and I took a smaller group out to look for exciting animals. We headed north to look in some of the usual places that we see prey for the larger species of whales that travel through our area. We started out looking at some Harbor Seals at Flattop Island. This whole island is...

[Sarah – 05/11/2018 – M/V Kestrel – 1:00pm]

Ahhhhhhhhh… another great spring day in the Salish Sea, perfect for taking the speedy M/V Kestrel out on the water! After getting suited up, we headed out to explore this beautiful inland sea! Captain Mike and I decided to head North towards the Canadian Gulf Islands for the day. As much as previous days’ reports do not forecast sightings, the northern reaches of our range at the mouth of the Strait of Georgia have been off the hook...

[Sarah – 05/10/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Captain Mike and I had an amazing spring trip aboard M/V Sea Lion with a marvelous group of guests! Everyday in the month of May we inch closer and closer to what we consider our peak season to see orcas, but don’t tell the whales that!! We’ve experienced an incredible early season with sightings of orcas and humpbacks on about 75% of our trips, far higher a percentage that our predicted 50%!

We left the dock with an early report of...

[Thursday, 5/3/18 - M/V Sea Lion - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

May is here and things are beginning to feel more and more like summer. More staff are arriving back and even Captain Pete has returned from his journeys around the world. Captain Pete tagged along with us on this trip as Captain Mike and I took folks out on another sunny day in the islands. We started by heading north and looking in the places where there is food for the whale species and types that we usually see during springtime...

[Friday, 5/4/18 - M/V Sea Lion - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

May the Fourth Be with you!

Today, Captain Pete and I headed north to ply the waters of the Salish Sea and look for incredible wildlife. Yesterday, we heard of some Humpback Whales hanging out in Birch Bay so we headed in that direction. On the way there just as we exited Presidents Channel we saw a fairly large group of Harbor Porpoises hunting in a prominent current line. These little ones are the area’s smallest...

[M/V Sea Lion- 5/5- Naturalist Alexandria]

Aboard M/V Sea Lion guests were treated to a gorgeous sunny Spring day.  Captain Mike, Naturalists Piper and myself, Naturalist Alexandria, all boarded for an exciting trip on the water as the sun shined down on us for one of the first of our perfect spring days of the year. 

We were lucky enough to be treated to some amazing Transient Sightings while on our trip!  We saw a family of three orcas hanging out north off the shore of Waldron...

color:black">Hello sunny days , blooming flowers, and warmer weather… and hello baby animals!  Spring is one of the most exciting times on the island, and the time of year we here in the islands get to welcome all the brand new baby animals that have all just been born!

color:black">This time of year we have the awesome opportunity to see hundreds of different kinds of animals that just had pups, calves, kits, and many more!  The islands happily boast an incredibly diverse...

[Sunday, 4/29/18 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00 – Naturalist Erick]

This Sunday we Captain Mike and myself journeyed into the spring mist covering the San Juans. With us, we brought along a great group of folks aboard the M/V Sea Lion. We headed north through San Juan Channel and made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island. Here there is a colony of mostly adult, male Steller Sea Lions. Every day they take up different positions on this rocky point, I assume, mostly due to the...