Today was an outstanding day on the water! The weather was gorgeous and warm and the water was flat calm. Spent the afternoon trip with some transients near Battleship island and a small part of J pod the J17s hanging out near turn point on Stuart island. Had many opportunities to see the whales in all their glory, with a number of breaches and spy hops, but this was just the first trip of the day.

I don't know if it was the summer solstice or what but we had an amazing evening and...

Our first evening charter of the season headed out tonight into the rough waters of Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We had a possible report of Biggs killer whales heading in from the Pacific Ocean, a roughly 80 mile trek. The whales were last sighted near Victoria, Canada; with a crew that was willing to brave the elements to see killer whales, we went for it! A little rain, wind, and choppy water wasn’t going to stop us from giving people an experience of a lifetime...

We left our Friday Harbor location Sunday with strong winds, a little bit of rain, and choppy water. Still, our spirits were high in hopes of finding killer whales in the Salish Sea even though we didn't have a confirmed killer whale sighting that day. We headed north in search of Transient killer whales, or mammal-hunting killer whales. We came across many harbor seals, harbor porpoise and even some steller sea lions. These are all great food sources for transients. However, when...

With impending rain, Captain Mike steered the M/V Sea Lion north with Naturalists Heather and Emily, and guests in tow.  The goal: transient killer whales off North Pender Island in Canada.  A little Northwest rain did not dampen any spirits on board and before we knew it we were rewarded with great views of 7 transient orcas traveling southeast in Swanson Channel.  T137 and her offspring T137A, T137B, and T137D were traveling with T36A and her two offspring T36A-1 and T36A-2.  It...

Captain Mike, Naturalists Emily and Kevin, and guests on board the Sea Lion were lucky enough to see K Pod on yesterday's Whale Watch Tour!  This is the first tour of the year where we were able to view our Southern Resident Killer Whales.  K Pod, comprised of 19 individual orcas, returned in full to the waters surrounding San Juan Island.  This pod was spread out into 3 traveling groups, all headed east from Victoria, B.C. towards the west side of San Juan Island.  K Pod is...

Another fabulous day on San Juan Island! Our Owner and Captain Brian was out on the water today and spotted transient orcas near Henry Island late this morning.  T18 was out with the T19 group hunting in Open Bay and off Battleship Island.  We often see these transient orcas in the summer months as well.  Harbor seals were the main course this morning, a favorite of transient orcas.  Brian observed lots a vocalizations after the hunt was over.  Transients are often seen "celebrating"...

With another beautiful day in the San Juans, Captain Mike, Caitlin, and I were thrilled to have great guests on board the boat and positive reports of resident orcas. Captain Mike steered us north toward the south end of Pender Island in Canada. We encountered a group of about 14 orcas consisting of member of L pod and K pod. These orcas were displaying resting patterns traveling slowing north. We were able to drop the hyrophone in and listen in on their conversations! After...

As the sun beat down on Captain Craig, the guests, and I we enjoyed a cool breeze as we left the harbor. With temperatures near 80 degrees today, everyone was thankful to be out on the water! We were lucky enough to have positive reports of transient orcas in Canadian waters. We arrived on scene near Gooch Island to find about 8 transient orcas milling in a kelp bed. After traveling past Mandarte Island the orcas appeared to find something to eat! While, it all happened under...