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

What an incredible day!

Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out into the foggy depths of the San Juan channel and up towards the north. We could hardly see the outline of Spedien Island as we approached!

We boated near the island and found hundreds of exotic animals! I’ve literally never seen so many mouflon sheep, sika deer and fallow deer all grazing together in huge herds! There were groups of huge male sika deer with antlers wandering...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/12/19 | 11:00am

Today was sure an adventurous day!

Captain Pete and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed south down through the San Juan Channel. Once we reached the southern tip of San Juan, we spotted Cattle Point lighthouse as we neared a rock full of wildlife!

We found Steller sea lions! These 12-foot long 2,400 pound animals barked and crawled around the island as they looked for the best rock to nap on. Some of them splashed in the water...

Olivia | September 11th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Wednesday morning was an exceptional day on the adventure Kestrel trip. It has been a while since both Captain Pete and I have been on our zodiac and were equally excited to hit the water. However, we couldn’t get our boat up to full speed because just outside of Friday Harbor in San Juan Channel was a Humpback Whale! This was personally my first time seeing this type of Baleen Whale in the channel and we spent about a half hour...

Erick | Tuesday, September 10, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | Noon

Today, Captain Pete and I took a fantastic group of passengers out on a noon trip to search the Salish Sea for some fun critters. It was another beautiful day that was the perfect fall temperature. It started out very foggy and dripping and by the afternoon was warm and sunny. Capt. Pete and I went north and immediately saw a how bunch of Harbor Porpoises hunting in the strong currents around Point Caution! As we journeyed...

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...

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...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Tuesday, September 3, 2019

What a wonderful trip aboard Kestrel this afternoon! We began our trip with no firm reports of whales in the area, so we decided to head north in search of some whales. Right after we left the harbor, we saw a bald eagle perched in one of the treetops! It was an adult bald eagle, with a bright white head and some white tail feathers. As we headed through San Juan Channel, we saw some upwelling occurring around us. Upwelling...

Olivia | August 29th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Today was such a breezy day on the water, both literally and figuratively. We started off by [barely] traveling south to find Bigg’s Killer Whales near Pear Point. From there, they turned north and were able to view them all the way back to Friday Harbor. As soon as we found them, we also saw Harbor Porpoises that were frantically fleeing the other way, including a full leap out of the water which is rare for porpoises.  This...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30PM | Sunday, August 25, 2019

What a lovely afternoon in the Salish Sea! We left the harbor with the knowledge that there was a pod of Bigg's killer whales fairly closeby to us! We headed in their general direction, searching for other wildlife along the way! We went to the southern shoreline of Spieden Island, and we almost immediately saw some wildlife! We first spotted some mouflon sheep, which are a non-native animal to the island. They were brought to...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, August 24, 2019 | 1:30PM 

It was one of the best whale watching trips of the season today! We began our trip with a multitude of reports of killer whales in our area. We were all so excited that there were so many around. We decided to first head toward Boundary Pass, which is north of Friday Harbor. We left out of the harbor and got into San Juan Channel. We passed Jones Island and found ourselves right by Flattop Island, looking at blows and dorsal...