Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 8th, 2020 | 13:00

For our afternoon trip, we set out south through San Juan Channel in the direction of Hein Bank. Just outside Griffin Bay we spotted a sea lion whipping around an octopus, providing excitement right off the bat. Prior to emerging into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we made a stop at Whale Rocks to see not only Harbor Seals, but also those Steller’s Sea Lions! We are continuing to see the world’s largest sea lion return to our waters after...

Olivia | M/V Kestrel | August 7th, 2020 | 14:00

The Hail Mary works again! Captain Brian and I decided to take a chance and head far south on our afternoon adventure trip in an attempt to see Killer Whales between Whidbey and Camano Islands. This was a long shot as there was no coverage on the whales and we would have to find them ourselves, in addition to going far and pushing our time limits with the four-hour trip. We decided it was worth it to give it our all for our passengers...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 4th, 2020 | 17:30

After seeing the T018 family group of Bigg’s Killer Whales on our 13:00 trip, Captain Sarah and I were determined to see them before they moved out of range in order to provide our sunset passengers with the same opportunity. This meant a very quick dock talk and off we went heading north through San Juan Channel, crossing up President’s Channel, and aiming for Sucia Island. On the southeast side of Sucia, we saw the large dorsal fins...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 4th, 2020 | 13:00

Captain Sarah and I were jazzed that we were able to tell our passengers we were leaving the dock with reports of Transient Orca in our waters. We immediately aimed for the previously known location of these whales in hopes to give our guests the best possible chance of seeing them as we could. This led us to north Rosario Strait, passing a Bald Eagle perched in the pines, just northeast of Orcas Island near Barnes and Clark Islands.

W...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 2nd, 2020 | 13:30

Starting off our trip, Captain Pete and I decided to head south towards Haro Strait where we have been finding Baleen Whales foraging the past few weeks. On our route we stopped and saw heaps of Steller’s Sea Lions. These are my absolute favorite and the males are starting to return back to our waters after spending the summer in Alaska breeding with those females. The previous week we were only seeing roughly 3-5 individuals and now...

Olivia | M/V Kestrel | August 1st, 2020 | 14:00

Today was easily in my Top 5 of Bigg’s Killer Whale experiences. Captain Brian and I knew there were two family groups of transient orca down between Whidbey and Camano Islands. However, we also knew there were Humpback Whales in north Rosario Strait. The dilemma? We REALLY wanted to see orca. Here were our options; 1) Go see Humpback Whales in North Rosario that have coverage by the PWWA, or 2) Go find these transient orca that had no...

Erick | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 | July 30, 2020

Today was another beautiful, sunny day here in the San Juan Islands. Captain Pete and I left the dock with some great guests in search of the marine wildlife here. We started by heading south towards Cattle Pass. We made our first stop at Turn Rocks just off of Turn Island. Here there were quite a few Pacific Harbor Seals and some pups basking in the beautiful sun. Many of them were holding their ‘banana poses’ where they hold their head...

Erick | M/V Sea Hawk | 12:00 | Wednesday, July 23, 2020

Today, we had a trip on M/V Sea Hawk out of Roche Harbor. I love taking Sea Hawk out. She has a great viewing platform from the bow, where you are raised a little off the water but not too much, so you feel like you are a little more part of what is happening in the water around you. She also started her life as a salmon fishing boat in Puget Sound and has switched over to ecotourism as her fun retirement job. Wyatt and I took...

Olivia | M/V Kestrel | July 29th, 2020 | 14:00

We started off our Wednesday Adventure Trip by setting out on a scan through our Salish Sea waters. Being part of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, we are involved in a community that holds no secrets. That means, everyone involved in the PWWA divides and covers as many corners of the Salish Sea as possible and reports in what whales or other crazy wildlife has been spotted. This not only helps our guests view cetaceans, but also...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 28th, 2020 | 17:30

We started off the trip by heading south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca in search of the same Bigg’s Killer Whales we saw on our 13:30 trip. We knew they were heading south but currently no one in the PWWA was on scene with them, making it more of an adventure to find them. Our M/V Sea Lion as well as a couple other whale watching vessels out of Friday Harbor divided along the strait scanning and working together to provide our guests...