Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia | August 9th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It was a gorgeous day on the water today as Captain Erick, Co-Naturalist Erin and I headed south with our passengers through the San Juan Channel. We caught word of a lone male Orca traveling near Victoria, B.C. and decided to make the trek southwest to see if we could view one of our favorite Bigg’s Killer Whales. On our way there, we passed heaps of Harbor Porpoises and bait balls, making it an entertaining trip through the Strait...

Olivia | August 8th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

With a gorgeous day ahead of us, Captain Pete, Co-Naturalist Alexandria and I decided to head south down San Juan Channel towards some potential whale reports near Salmon Bank, while also staying on the look out for other possible whales and wildlife in the area. Along this route, we were seeing heaps of Harbor Porpoises popping up with those chocolate chip dorsal fins. Just as we breached the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we started...

Piper | Thursday, August 8, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

This morning the skies in the San Juan Islands started out quite gray, which in my opinion makes for wonderful sighting weather, and that proved true today! As Captain Gabe and I got the Kestrel off the docks and out of the marina, a report of Bigg’s killer whales ran across the radio! They were all the way down by the Olympic Peninsula, so we hung a right and headed south through San Juan Channel.

When we reached Cattle Point...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/07/19 | 5:30pm

This sunset tour turned into one of my favorite tours yet!

It all started with Captain Pete, Naturalist Laura and I heading out of Friday Harbor. We couldn’t believe our luck! Immediately, we heard reports of orca whales literally swimming 15 minutes away from us!

We jaunted over to Jone’s Island and found the orcas right away! This amazing orca pod consists of T18 (grandma of the group and one of the oldest females in the region, estimated...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Erin | 1:30 PM | Thursday, August 1, 2019

What a fabulous trip aboard the M/V Sea Lion. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we decided to head towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca to see if we could find any whales feeding. We left out of Friday Harbor and right away we encountered some upwelling currents. The currents in the Salish Sea are fueled by the rise and fall of the tides, so they can be pretty intense. They help to bring food to the water's...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 8/7/2019 | 1:30pm

Today’s whale watch was outstanding!  With Captain Pete behind the helm, M/V Sea Lion ventured eastbound to see some Bigg’s killer whales!  We were so happy to find the T019s so close to Friday Harbor, right around Blakely, Shaw, and Orcas  Island!  This family of four was on the move today!   We all watched with enthusiasm as these whales circled around the islands, potentially in search of prey! 

This killer whale family includes two very...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Today's trip was magical! We started our trip with no firm reports of whales, so we decided to head toward the Strait of Georgia and cover some different areas than other boats were covering. We were going for a whale search. We stopped by Flattop Island, which is an important wildlife refuge. Here we saw harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and swimming around in the water. At one point, one of them even jumped...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 8/6/2019 | 5:30pm

Our evening wildlife cruise aboard M/V Sea Lion was spectacular!  We all anxiously made our way out of Friday Harbor as quickly as possible because we heard reports of orcas traveling south from Boundary Pass to Stewart Island!!  It is so exciting to hear of whales traveling so close to home!  On our way north we made a quick pit stop to see a splashing Stellar sea lion in full feeding mode around a bait ball!  The birds were the first...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/06/19 | 1:30pm

Today started as a gorgeous sunny day without a cloud in the sky, and it just got better. Captain Sarah, Naturalist Laura and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel up towards reports of wildlife! But, on the way, we kept finding other random wildlife!

We stopped as we saw a swarm of birds, also known as a bait ball, swirling over a sea lion! It was really cool to briefly see this Steller sea lion pop...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/05/19 | 5:30pm

What a gorgeous day out on the water! Captain Gabe and I started our journey out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel. We continued up towards Canadian waters as we passed through President’s Channel in between Orcas Island and Waldron Island. We boated up around East Point, off of Saturna Island in Canada and further into the Strait of Georgia.

The waters were perfectly still as we spotted our first blow off in...