Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with the crew had quite a day today! Heading out Naturalists Eric, Captain Gabe, and I were struggling to decide what group of orcas to go watch! There being a couple of reports of whales nearby from other boats, we decided to go through Upright Channel to the north side of Lopez to encounter a group. There were two young transient orca in this group traveling apart from their pod, which was further southwest. This was not typical behavior of two...

Jordan | June 29, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 sunset trip

What a lovely sunset tour today! Captain Mike and I set out at 5:30 from Friday Harbor with a fairly decent idea of where we could find orcas!

We received reports of a transient whale pod up in West Sound, so we headed north through the San Juan Channel towards those waters. However, as soon as we grew closer, the whales took off in the opposite direction! Luckily, we were able to catch up and we met the whales in the Upright...

It was a double round-trip for those guests coming from Anacortes today. We loaded them on the boat in Friday Harbor and then motored through Upright Channel and Thatcher Pass to get to Rosario Strait right outside of Anacortes. There was some fog again today, but it was well inland and offered a nice soft background for viewing the orcas. And orcas there were.

J pod was all there travelling in two tight family groups down the strait. The four big boys, both calves with their...