Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, July 1, 2019 | 2:00 PM

What a beautiful afternoon aboard M/V Sea Lion! We began our trip heading east out of Friday Harbor. We saw some upwelling and currents almost immediately after we left the harbor. It was neat to see all of the slick patches in the water. We made our way through Pivine Pass and ended up on the east side of Orcas Island. We headed toward Peapod Rocks because we were going to try to see some harbor seals, but on our way there we...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, June 30, 2019 | 11:00 AM

Today was an awesome day on M/V Kestrel. We began the trip heading north out of Friday Harbor, as there were some reports of orcas in that direction. It was gorgeous out on the water. The sun was shining and the water was calm. We got to stop at White Rock, which is right by Flattop Island. There were about twenty seals hauled out on the rocks, and there were at least five bald eagles resting on the rocks as well! Some of the...

Laura C. | 6-27-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Passengers boarded M/V Sea Lion today with vigor, in hopes of either witnessing whales in their natural environment for the first time or reconnecting with these charismatic leviathans once again!  And we were not disappointed!  Captain Pete manned the helm as we ventured north through San Juan Channel and rounded Orcas Island to join fellow whale-watching vessels near Sucia Island.  We were elated to see a familiar family in the area...

Laura C./ 6-26-2019 /  M/V Sea Lion / 5:30pm

Our whale watch this evening was one of my favorites of the season!  Captain Pete, Olivia, myself and a full boat of passengers voyaged north to Saturna Island.  We were ecstatic to find three families of Bigg’s killer whales joined together in what seemed like a celebration!  The guests for this evening’s celebration included the T36As, T65As, T65Bs, and T77A, with a grand total of around 14 whales!  The calves were tail breaching and...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, June 25, 2019 | 1:30 PM

What a lovely afternoon in the Salish Sea! We began our trip heading north out of Friday Harbor. The sun was shining and we were ready to see some amazing wildlife. We headed toward some reports of orcas near Stuart Island. When we got to Stuart Island, we saw the beautiful lighthouse at Turn Point. Turn Point is the most northwestern point in the contiguous United States. We continued on across Haro Strait, and made it to...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, June 25, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an amazing trip it was aboard the M/V Sea Lion this evening. The weather was absolutely beautiful. The water was smooth and the sun was shining bright. We left Friday Harbor and headed south toward Cattle Point, back toward the area where we had seen orcas on our previous tour. We had received some reports that those same orcas were travelling toward another pod of orcas! When we got to Cattle Point, we got some amazing...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, June 22, 2019 | 11:00 AM

It was a truly adventurous trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this morning. We began our trip heading north out of Friday Harbor. There were some orca reports in the Strait of Georgia, and we figured we would give it a shot to try and see them. On our way there, we stopped at Flattop Island. We saw lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, some of which were heading into the water. We then went around the island and saw at least 6...

Laura C. | 6-20-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 pm

Our second trip on the 5:30 whale watch was spectacular!  We headed north and found T124As traveling right around Saturna Island!  The water was glass calm and as we were the only vessel in the area, the surrounding waters were quite peaceful!  We passed a couple of bald eagles perched on a surrounding rock formation and even spotted a juvenile bald eagle!  The calf of the T124A family was quite active and we were able to see most of the...

Piper | Thursday, June 20, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

This morning when Captain Gabe and I arrived at the docks a ferry came into the marina here in Friday Harbor and reported seeing orcas just outside the town! While I got everyone fitted in exposure suits, he jumped on the boat and took it out to locate those orcas for us. Once he’d spotted them and we were ready to go, he brought Kestrel back and we all hopped on! We headed north into San Juan Channel to go check out this group...

Piper | Wednesday, June 19, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Today was a bit of a blustery day in the Salish Sea, but Captain Gabe, Laura, and I had an awesome group of folks on the Sea Lion and we headed north into San Juan Channel on the lookout for all sorts of wildlife! There was a report of a lone male Bigg’s killer whale in Canadian waters so we headed that way and spied a bald eagle in the trees on Spieden Island and some harbor porpoises nearby!

We arrived on scene shortly...