Piper | Tuesday, June 4, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Just as I was gathering our guests for our trip today Captain Pete was on the radio with other whale watching boats and received a report of orcas in Canadian waters! So, we got off the docks with an awesome group of people and headed north in San Juan Channel, cutting across Spieden Channel towards the Southern Gulf Islands of Gooch and Mandarte. Arriving on scene with the Bigg’s killer whales, the mammal-eating ecotype, we...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, June 1, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Today was an excellent day out on the water! The afternoon was seeming like it was going to be a beautiful, sunny one, so spirits were high amongst everyone. We left Friday Harbor and travelled north. We saw many harbor porpoises as we travelled north. They were abundant as we made our way toward East Point.

At East Point, we saw evidence of strong tidal currents and upwelling. It was neat to see. Near East Point we got our...

Piper | Friday, May 31, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM

On our afternoon tour today the orcas that were spotted in the morning (the T65Bs, T75Bs, and T75Cs) had continued north so we left from Friday Harbor going north into San Juan Channel. When we arrived to Green Point on Spieden Island, a common haul-out site for Steller’s sea lions, at first we continued to motor past because it looked like all of the sea lions had left for Alaska, but Captain Gabe caught sight of some Stellers in...

Piper | Friday, May 31, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Heading out of Friday Harbor today there was a report of Bigg’s killer whales off Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island so we headed south into San Juan Channel and it wasn’t long before we came upon a group of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks near Turn Island. While we were sitting there watching the little rock sausages, a few harbor porpoises quickly swam through the channel and we got to get a great look...

Piper | Sunday, May 26, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM & 3:00 PM

What a difference a day can make when it comes to weather in the Salish Sea! Today it was sunny as can be and I was out on the M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe and two great groups of guests! On both tours we headed north out of Friday Harbor and up into Boundary Pass! We spied some harbor seals and harbor porpoises along the way, but once in Canadian waters we came across a humpback whale! We were able to identify this...

color:black">Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Sunday, May 26, 2019 | 12:00 PM

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start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-style: initial;
text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px"> font-family:">What a fantastic trip we had on a beautifully sunny day! It began with harbor porpoises. These tiny toothed whales were travelling through President Channel as we made our way to where there were some orca reports. Everyone was excited to see them. As we travelled into the area where we knew there were some orcas, it took us some time to figure out where they were. Then we saw tall blows and tall dorsal fins in the...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | Saturday, May 25, 2019| 12:00 PM

Today was a rainy day, but that sure did not stop us from seeing amazing wildlife. We began our trip heading north out of Roche Harbor, heading toward Pender Island, as we got some reports of orcas in that area. On our way out of the harbor, we saw harbor seals up at the surface! As we were travelling, we got sights on a humpback whale that was by itself. We stopped to watch the humpback whale, and it had a fairly predictable...

Piper | Saturday, May 25, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM

After quite the soggy day, the skies cleared up significantly for our sunset tour, my first of the season! Captain Pete and I left the docks in Friday Harbor on the Sea Lion with an awesome group of people and headed south into San Juan Channel. Motoring into Cattle Pass we got to see a few harbor porpoises surfacing here and there and they continued to pop up around the southern side of San Juan Island as we made our way...

Erin | Thursday, May 23, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion| 12:00 PM

Today was a beautiful day in Friday Harbor! The sun was shining and the water was lovely. We began our trip travelling north toward East Point on Saturna Island, as we had some promising reports. We stopped at White Rocks and there were two bald eagles resting on the rocks. They were adults, as they had white plumage on both their heads and tail feathers. One of them was originally in flight, so we got to see its awesome 6 foot...

Piper | Thursday, May 23, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 12:00 PM

The M/V Kestrel left the docks of Friday Harbor today at noon with me, an awesome group of guests, and the wonderful Captain Gabe. We headed north into San Juan Channel and before we could even get to speed, we spotted a bald eagle perched in some trees on Point Caution! Watching this eagle scan the waters of the channel was a great start to the trip! We picked up the pace and made it to the Wasp Islands where we came across a...