Laura /  M/V Sea Lion /  3/30/2022  / 12:30PM

“We are going to follow the naval nuclear submarine home today”, was a sentence I may never say again on a whale watch excursion, but it made everyone on the boat smile.  And seeing an escorted submarine was just icing on the cake for today’s trip.  M/V Sea Lion held 22 passengers onboard and left Friday Harbor with gusto at 12:30PM.  Captain Brian had not heard of a firm whale report yet, but we had his years of experience of finding...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | September 30, 2021 | 12:00 pm

Throughout this summer, we have only encountered the critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales a handful of times. It is growing more rare to see these struggling animals due to the lack of prey for them in the Salish Sea. Chinook Salmon is their #1 food source and has been heavily overfished and further declined due to habitat loss of freshwater rivers. Because they no longer have a stable food source of Chinook...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | September 15, 2021 | 2:00 pm

Today’s adventure tour was a blast! We left Friday Harbor headed southbound through the San Juan Channel. We stopped to hear the sounds of Pelagic Cormorants and California Gulls nesting on Goose Island and then followed the smells of Steller’s Sea Lions across the channel to Whale Rocks. One curious sea lion was jetting through the kelp and jumping up and out of the water like a missile! Others were hauled out on the rocks with...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel| August 15, 2021 | 10:00 am

We got underway this morning as clouds rolled towards Friday Harbor from the south. Luckily, we were heading north, following reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales near Vancouver, BC. Out on the water the swells were small and the sky over us stayed blue as we headed towards Canada full speed ahead, knowing we had a lot of ground to cover. We made a stop at Flat Top island to admire some plump and adorable Harbor Seals before continuing...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | August 09, 2021 | 10:00am

There are few days that begin like today. We left the harbor, excited and ready to search for wildlife around the islands. Being one of the first boats out on the water, we were in search mode. However, not long after we departed a report came in for some killer whales around our waters. We rerouted to follow along with that note. Sure enough, we found our first big wildlife of the day!

There were 4 Bigg’s Killer Whales traveling...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | July 29, 2021 | 2:00pm

I feel grateful for every day I spend on the water. On certain trips like today, it makes me think we all had some good karma in our favor. Calm waters and sunny weather made for an enjoyable departure headed inter-island. Passing through Orcas Island and Lopez Island, Mount Baker revealed itself for the most picturesque PNW image. We rounded through Peavine Pass, turning north towards Pea Pod Rocks. Lumped around the edges like a pack...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 19, 2021 | 10:00am

Our Monday morning classic whale watch trip was an experience to beat. Reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca guided our plans to head southbound through San Juan Channel. We traveled through Cattle Pass and east around Lopez Island. Pointed towards Smith Island, we saw our first exhales of some Bigg’s Killer Whales. These orcas were dispersed within a 400-yard range. We would see exhales and dorsal fins...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | July 4, 2021 | 5:30pm

Tonight’s sunset tour was one to beat! We traveled out of Friday Harbor northbound along Orcas Island. Recent sightings of cetaceans around Patos and Sucia island meant we had a direct route we were following. Going to these far-north islands was our mission, and we weren’t letting anything distract us!

By the time we passed through President’s Channel in between Waldron Island and Orcas Island, we knew to keep our eyes out for exhales...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 18, 2021 | 12:30pm

Today’s wildlife viewing was quite exceptional. We departed from Friday Harbor heading East on an inter-island excursion. We navigated the channels of the Salish Sea with Koma Kulshan (aka Mount Baker) off of our port and Tahoma (aka Mount Rainier) a mound in the distance at 150 miles away! 

Nearing the port of Anacortes, our captain Gabe spotted the exhales of distant orcas about ½ mile off shore. The killer whales were swimming in...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 16, 2021 | 5:30pm

Sunset is my favorite time of day. We depated from the harbor and into the warm, golden sunlight reflecting on the calm waters in San Juan Channel. Guests spotted the shiny, chocolate chip-shaped dorsal fins of harbor porpoise gliding through the surface as we traveled northbound along San Juan Island and into Haro Strait. As we approached the Northern tip of Stuart Island, we recognized the distant dorsal fins of reported orcas! We...