Olivia | August 26th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

What a fun morning on the water! Captain Gabe received reports of several whales nearby, so we set out south through San Juan Channel. With our whales just south of Lopez Island, we decided to stop at Whale Rocks and check out the largest sea lions in the world- Steller’s Sea Lions! There were heaps of them bellowing over the water, swimming along the shoreline of this mini island, and snoozing in the sunshine. We also acquired some...

Olivia | August 4th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Captain Erick, Co-Naturalist Jordan and I, along with our full boat of passengers, decided to head south for an opportunity to see some Bigg’s Killer Whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca south of Hein Bank. Along the route, our captain was thrilled about seeing heaps of Phalaropes! These small birds are not often seen this close to shore, and typically feed on plankton. One female breeds with multiple males and leaves them to raise...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/12/19 | 3:00pm

Today was such a good day! As Captain Pete and I set out of Friday Harbor, we headed south towards potential sightings of something cool near the Olympic Peninsula.

We headed south down through the San Juan Channel, passed Cattle Point and across the Strait of Juan De Fuca! Miles away from home, we spotted a couple boats in the distance. Then our orcas! Yay! Upon looking at the unique dorsal fin patterns and shapes and scratches, we identified...

Olivia | July 10th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We had the most adventurous ‘Adventure Tour’ yet this season! Gearing up for the trip, Captain Brian decided to take a risk and head towards our only Killer Whale reports down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, almost bordering Haro Strait. On our way south near Cattle Point, we stopped at Whale Rocks to view Harbor Porpoises (which we saw right at the dock) and many sea birds such as Cormorants. Here’s where the adventure truly began! It...

Olivia | July 9th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

For our rainy sunset tour, Captain Gabe immediately started heading south past the Cattle Point Lighthouse down into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where we had far away whale sightings from earlier in the day. While he was determined to show our passengers whales, I started handing out rain slickers and heaps of blankets for our hour and 15-minute trek south. While on route, we spotted Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoises swimming about which...

M/V Sea Lion | July 9th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria | 1:30 PM

What a fantastic day this trip ended up being!  We left the dock with reports of orcas on the cusp of our range, and decided that we would go for it!  After checking with all of our friends on board we decided that if we had the chance of seeing orcas today it was absolutely worth the trek!

We headed south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and worked our way past numerous banks towards where these reports came from.

As we...

Olivia | July 7th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today we started our adventure tour by finding two bald eagles right away inside Friday Harbor! Such a good spot after finishing the wildlife talk. We decided to head south down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where two of our whale sightings were. On the way down, we stopped at Whale Rocks and Spotted Harbor Seals snoozing along the shoreline as well as heaps of Gulls and Cormorants. Did you know the bodies of the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/04/19 | 1:30pm

Happy Fourth of July!! The day started with a beautiful parade marching down Spring Street in Friday Harbor. It created an air of excitement amongst everyone.

Captain Pete, Naturalist Laura and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of Friday Harbor towards the mysterious unknown. We headed down through the San Juan Channel and past Cattle Point where a beautiful lighthouse stood, marking the southern point of San Juan Channel.

We scanned the...

Jordan| M/V Kestrel | 06/09/19 | 11:00

As we got everyone suited up, excitement filled the air. Eventually everyone headed down and met with Captain Gabe by the Kestrel and we headed out of Friday Harbor. We heard reports coming from Canadian waters so we sped down the San Juan Channel and towards Cattle Pass.

Here we stopped by a huge rock jutting out of the water where we spotted some Steller sealions! These 12 foot long and 2400 pound animals lumbered around and barked at each...

Piper | Saturday, May 18, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Today was another beautiful sunny day in the San Juan Islands and we took full advantage of it with reports of rain the next few days. We had a nice full boat aboard Kestrel today and left the dock heading north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was a couple Steller sea lions hanging out on Green Point on Spieden Island. These two stragglers looked to be the last of the Green Point colony remaining in the Salish Sea. We expect...