Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

[Saturday, 4/14/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Like most places in the northern hemisphere springtime is about balance. We get some bright sunny days where all the flowers seem to sing spring, and other days we get the classic drizzly Pacific Northwest weather. Today on our noon tour Captain Mike, Piper, and I took a group out on M/V Sea Lion to search for wildlife among these amazing islands. We headed north in San Juan Channel. We made our first stop just a little bit north of...

The Story

Apologies, this story is more Attenborough than Melville

The Salish Sea is grand and dynamic. It has wide open straits, tight passes, deeply carved trenches and sloping shallow banks. Within every nook and cranny of this large inland sea there is life. These nutrient rich waters support a large diversity of invertebrates, fishes, and marine mammals as well as a few rapidly growing human metropolises. Every day we go out we have the opportunity to see seals, sea lions, and a...

[Sunday – 4/8/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            This Sunday was another cloudy and misty day here in the Pacific Northwest. Captain Brian, Rachael, and I headed out with a group of excited passengers. We headed north to go in search of whales and other exciting wildlife as well as avoid some of the spring winds that were blowing out of the south. We made it all the way up to Swanson Channel. Just around Moat Point we started to see some blows in the distance...

[Naturalist Sarah – 04/06/2018 – M/V Kestrel – 1:00pm]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh…… flowers blooming, turkey vultures in the air, warm breezes, the sweet melodies of lawn mowers around Friday Harbor….. Spring is here in the San Juans! That means one thing for us here at San Juan Safaris: the much anticipated first M/V Kestrel trip of the season! After a long prep day (shout out to Captain/Naturalist Erick) the boat looked sparkly clean and ready for a summer of adventures!

Captain Brian and I...

[Naturalist Sarah – 04/03/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

April trips don’t often start with whale reports on the dock, but on Tuesday we had incredible reports of orcas be fore we left Friday Harbor. Captain Brian opted for a southerly route, so he steered the M/V Sea Lion right out of the harbor.

The original orcas that were reported on the west side of San Juan Island had been fairly non-directional… traveling north along the shoreline, and then south. With plenty of time to...

[Friday – 4/6/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Today was a perfect Pacific Northwest day. This morning was completely covered with a misty low-level cloud cover. It was only about 1,000 feet high, so it masked the tallest hills in the islands and scraped the tops of the evergreen forest covering the islands. This is the weather that this area is known for and what it was meant to look like. As Captain Mike and I took a small group out with us to go look for some whales...

M/V Sea Lion- April 4th, 2018 

What a fantastic day we had on the water for our Trip on M/V Sea Lion this Wednesday!  The acitivity on the water was affectionately referred to it as a “T- Party”- and was it ever!  Everyone on our trip was so excited to be treated to over 25 Transient Orcas on the water!

It started out a bit chilly but everyone on board M/V Sea Lion for our trip was in exceptional spirits!  We all happily dawned our incredibly fashionable yellow rain slickers provided...

[Sunday, 4/1/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            On Sunday, we went on another fun search for wonderful wildlife in the San Juan Islands! We headed north towards Spieden Island. We made a quick stop just south of Point Caution because there were four Bald Eagles fighting over some carcass right next to shore. They were super active and kept dive bombing each other with talons open! After they flew away we continued northward. We headed through Spieden Channel...

[Saturday, 3/31/18 – 4:00PM – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     On Saturday, there were so many folks that wanted to go watch fun wildlife that we had a second trip! In the summer we have two trips every day, but this was definitely a treat for this time of the year. Captain Mike and I picked up a new group of guests and headed back out. We headed north in San Juan Channel and pointed towards Boundary Pass. The Orcas of J Pod which we had left in the northern end of Haro Strait...

[Saturday, 3/31/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Happy end of March and Passover!

On Saturday it was so beautiful and there were so many folks that were interested in coming out with us that we had to take two trips out to see our wonderful wildlife! Captain Mike, Piper, and I took a great group of folks out. It was sunny and calm, and we couldn’t ask for a more perfect spring day. We headed south through San Juan Channel, passed through Cattle Pass and traveled...