Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

[Friday -  3/23/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     This Friday, Captain Mike and I took ourselves with a great group of guests out on a little adventure. We headed north on this nice spring day and pointed towards Spieden Island. We were on a search for exciting wildlife and our first stop was the eastern end of Spieden Island, called Green Point. Here we found one of the Steller Sea Lion colonies in the San Juans. This colony is only here in the winter months and...

 M/V Sea Lion, March 26, 2018

            Today on our trip aboard M/V Sea Lion we had an amazing encounter with Dall’s Porpoises!  These cetaceans are some pretty cool animals that we occasionally have the pleasure of seeing on our trips!  And today they treated us to an absolutely awesome viewing! 

            On our way north into Strait of Georgia we had a pod of Dall’s Porpoises join us for a play date!  This pod of about 15-20 Dall’s Porpoises started riding the wake and...

Saturday, March 24th | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Under today’s blue skies the M/V Sea Lion took to the Salish Sea with Captain Mike, naturalist Erick, myself, and a boat full of enthusiastic visitors! We pointed our sights north in search of whales and wildlife and soon found ourselves at Green Point on Spieden Island watching a raft of Steller’s sea lions frolic in the currents. These giants must have thought the M/V Sea Lion was one of them because as we floated there we were treated...

[Monday, 3/19/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            Again, today, it was beautiful and sunny, and the green waters of the Salish Sea greeted us placidly. Sometimes this great weather is too much. Captain Mike, myself, and a newbie, Alexandria headed out with a great group of folks to find some fun creatures out in the wilds of the sea. We headed north to the place where we had spotted some orcas earlier that morning in San Juan Channel. We soon found them again...

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

This Sunday started like most days this spring. It was a little cloudy, the water was super calm, and Captain Mike and I went looking for some whales and other amazing wildlife in the waters around San Juan Island. We headed north and pointed towards Boundary Pass which is the border between Canada and the U.S. As we approached Java Rocks and Saturna Island we started to see a few dorsal fins emerge above the surface. They...

[Saturday, 3/17/18 - 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

     We were blessed with yet another sunny day for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day. Captain Mike and I headed out again with a great group of guests and looked northward for exciting wildlife in the San Juan archipelago. We first stopped at Green Point on Spieden Island and looked at a large group of Steller Sea Lions rafting and swimming in the strong current streaming off of the point. This...

[Friday, 3/16/18 - 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     We have been experiencing a long sunny break from our normal drizzly spring weather and it seems to be bringing out all the natural spring activities in full force. Flowers are blooming, there are little lambs running around everywhere, and the birds have started to migrate back north. On this lovely, sunny day Captain Mike and I took our small group of guests out to search for some fun wildlife. We headed north towards...

[Naturalist Sarah – 03/15/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Lately we have had some simply exceptional days out on the water. Not only have we been treated to insane whale sightings, but we have also had magical springtime weather.

While I was cooking breakfast this morning Captain Brian called me, “Want to go find some whales? Get down to the harbor in 15.” I quickly downed my breakfast, gathered my gear, called Naturalist Rachel, and zoomed down to the harbor. With fresh cups of...

M/V Sea Lion – 12:00 Noon – Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Just as the first sprinkles fell from the sky the M/V Sea Lion departed from Friday Harbor carrying Captain Mike, Sarah, Erick, myself and an awesome group of kids and kids-at-heart! Heading south along San Juan Channel towards rumors of a large group of orcas in the open waters of the Salish Sea south of San Juan Island. As we closed in on Cattle Pass, we were met with a small group of harbor porpoises swimming in the ripping...

[Sunday – 3/11/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            Today, we luckily got another super sunny day! It almost felt like summer, but it was still a little cool outside. Captain Mike, Piper, and I took a great group out with us as we went on another search for some whales and other fun creatures in our waters. Early this morning, most of our team was out on M/V Sea Lion to practice safety drills and saw some orcas then, so at noon we headed in that direction to try...