Olivia | August 14th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

For our evening sunset, we received reports of Humpback Whales heading north through Swanson Channel in Canadian waters. Because of the far distance pushing our 3 to 4 hour time frame, Captain Pete and I agreed to head straight for that area in hopes to see whales before the sun set. We traveled north through San Juan Channel, dipped into Spieden Channel watching the exotic sheep and deer peak out into the southern side of Spieden...

Jordan | August 8, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 trip

What a wonderful day out on the water! The skies were clear and blue and the water was especially gorgeous. Captain Pete, Mariana and I headed out of Friday Harbor with reports of a whale up in Canada!

So, we headed up through the San Juan Channel and boated along the east side of Stuart Island and past Turn Point, the most northwestern point in the continental U.S.! Then we traveled across Boundary Pass and into Canadian waters up...

Jordan | July 1, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 trip

 The morning was a not-so-sunny morning as the drizzling rain sprinkled across the calm waters of Friday Harbor. Captain Mike and I were excited for the day, nevertheless, and embraced the wetness with open spirits of adventure!

As we headed out, we spotted bald eagles right away! Perched high in a tree, they didn’t seem to mind the rain as they overlooked the harbor. Then Mike caught wind of some whales up in Canada! So, we decided to...

Captain Pete and I were on our second trip of the day ready to be out on the water during the golden hour and hopefully encounter some animals! With very excited guests, we headed up North to see if we could find the same orcas we were with during our day trip. Apparently, these guys were covering lots of ground and moving North quick. We were worried that they would get away from us but decided to go up that way regardless. We were hopeful that we would get a good look at them...

Canada was our destination today, so we left Friday Harbor heading north fast. The longer trip was well worth it though. We spotted at least fifteen members of J-pod just off the west side of North Pender (48°48.22’N 123°19.93’W) traveling north. The whales were very close, almost on top of each other—true family bonding! We identified members of both the J-22’s including “Oreo” (J-22)and her son “Cookie” (J-38), the J-17’s including “Princess Angeline” (J-17) and her daughter...

Word was that killer whales were north and headed north today, so we wasted no time departing from Friday Harbor. Along the way we spotted a few curious harbor seals and some harbor porpoise. Then we weaved in between the beautiful Canadian islands of Saturna and South Pender before heading through Active Pass. Just north of Active Pass we spotted a killer whale breach in the distance! (48° 53.267 N 123° 17.661 W). It was J-Pod. The whales were spread out, traveling in small groups...

After what appeared to be the start of fall and winter, we are now back to the September weather that we are all so fond of. September really is the best month to see the islands and today was a perfect example of that.

I welcomed a lovely group of guests onto the M/V Kittiwake this afternoon and we headed off on our tour. The orcas were at the south end and west side of San Juan Island today, so it was difficult to decide where to go. Capt. Bill did a fabulous job though, and after...

While a heat wave roars through the Pacific Northwest, we here in Friday Harbor decided to cool our heals in the waters of Boundary Pass. The orcas had been north and east and everywhere according to the reports that we were getting, but we found them heading west towards Swanson Channel and the Pender islands. Supposedly, J1 "Ruffles" had been over near Lummi Island, but almost like clock-work he and his family showed up off of the starboard bow of our boat.

Capt. Craig always...