Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia | September 8th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a fun day Captain Sarah and I had with all our passengers on M/V Sea Lion! We started off the trip by heading north where we immediately began seeing Harbor Porpoises rounding San Juan Island through Spieden Channel. After taking a quick stop at Spieden Island to see Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and heaps of Mouflon Sheep, we continued towards Stuart Island where we ran into our solo Bigg’s Killer Whale, T49A3! This goofy...

M/V Kestrel | Sunday, September 8, 2019 | Naturalist Erick | 11:00AM

Sunday morning started out feeling super fall with a slight breeze out of the south. Captain Gabe and I headed out a long with a few other boats to go search for fun wildlife in the crisp and sometimes foggy morning. I personally love mornings like this. Most folks visit the islands in the summer when it is always summer with days that feel like they last forever but never get too hot. As we move into fall, we get...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Saturday, September 7, 2019 | 1:30PM

What a fantastic trip we had today!  We boarded onto M/V  Sea Lion and knew that there were orcas in our range but nothing could have prepared us for the day we were about to have! 

As we headed out we made a left hand turn and started heading north up San Juan Channel.  We knew that one of the reports we had received was just off of Waldron Island so we headed that way.

We met up with this group of Biggs...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/07/19 | 11:00am

What a lovely day today! Although the clouds hid the sun, everyone shone with hopes of finding whales!

Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel. Luckily, we heard reports of some whales up in Canadian waters, so we booked it in that direction.

Before heading too far, we found a huge bald eagle posing on a channel marker! He was perched so we could all see a great view of his entire...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Saturday, September 6, 2019 | 1:30PM

We had a great day today out on the water!  We started out our trip heading south through San Juan Channel.  Within minutes we were on scene with Biggs Killer whales that had been spotted in San Juan Channel.  We watched them as they swam back and forth off of Lopez Island trending south west. 

After spending some time with these orcas we headed out of San Juan Channel towards some of the banks in Strait of...

Sarah | Friday, September 6, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Wowza, what a day we had on M/V Kestrel! After a summer behind the helm on the Salish Sea it was so much fun to spend time on deck interpreting the intricacies of the marine ecosystem for our group of guests aboard our Adventure departure. Captain Gabe and I shoved off the dock in Friday Harbor without a firm report of whales in the area, but as we motored out the reports came rolling in!

Gabe and I elected to head north...

M/V Sea Lion | September 5th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria

What a great day we had today!  We were so excited when we got on board M/V Sea Lion and knew that we had reports of orcas within our range.  To make matters even more awesome, these sightings were of Resident Orcas- an Ecotype that we have seen only a handful of times this season.  This day promised to be quit the treat!  We headed out into San Juan Channel and began the trek south to where these incredible animals were...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/05/19 | 11:00am

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, random dogs were barking in the distance; it was looking like a great start to our whale watch!

Captain Gabe and I took our new friends out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel. We headed down south through the San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point.

Along the way we stopped to watch a big bait ball! Swarms of birds were pecking at the surface of the water and diving down to catch fish that were balled...

Olivia | September 4th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

What an incredible day aboard M/V Sea Lion! Captain Sarah, Co-Naturalist Jordan and I headed north through the San Juan Channel in hopes to see some whale reports that were rumored from the morning. Initially we were going to head around the tip of San Juan Island and into Haro Strait, when we last minute heard of some Bigg’s Killer Whales that were closer and coming our way.

All along our trip, both heading north and later on in...

Piper | Tuesday, September 3, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Captain Pete and naturalists Olivia and I were aboard the M/V Sea Lion today with a fabulous group of folks which were ready to head out and see some Salish Sea wildlife! We left the marina and headed northwest towards Moresby Island in the Canadian Southern Gulf Islands. Along our route we spotted some harbor porpoises surfacing off Spieden Island, with their tiiiiiiiny dorsal fins popping up here and there. We also had...