Olivia | San Juan Safaris | August 19th, 2024 

After a long hiatus while getting our NEW website up and running, our daily blogs are back! 

We will be documenting whale and wildlife sightings daily from all three of our vessels to provide a sneak peak of where we’ve been traveling and what wildlife has been visiting the Salish Sea- while hopefully teaching you something along the way. We will also be providing bonus material for extra education and conservation topics, and photos of course! 

Every...

Elle | M/V Kestrel | 9/24/2022 | 2:00PM

Today's adventure tour started in Friday Harbor. From there, we headed south in San Juan Channel. We made our first stop at Goose Island in Cattle Pass. This island is surrounded by bull kelp, an essential part of the ecosystem here in the Salish Sea, and one of the fastest growing organisms on earth. Attop the island sat dozens of stick nests made by double-crested cormorants. After some great looks at these deep-diving birds, we prepared for...

Elle | M/V Sea Lion | 9/23/2022 | 1:30PM

Today, on M/V Sea Lion, we headed south to try to catch a glimpse of some orca whales which had been reported in the strait of Juan de Fuca. We headed south through San Juan Channel, past Cattle Point Lighthouse, and into the strait. After a nice, long journey southwest, we encountered two Bigg’s killer whales; brothers T60D and T60E. These boys have been in the area for the last week or so, from Canada’s Gulf Islands up north, to south of...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 9/17/2022 | 1:30PM

Today we headed out of the harbor with no whale sightings reported nearby. Because none of the whales in this area have tags that report their location, we rely on our own visiual sightings and our partners in the Pacific Whale Watch Association to find wildlife here in the Salish Sea. We know that small, schooling fish like to congregate on banks (underwater hills) like the ones just south of San Juan Island. We also know that seals, sea lions...

Elle | M/V Kestrel | 9/11/2022 | 2:00PM

Today's adventure tour headed south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On our journey towards the Olympic Peninsula, our passengers braved sea spray and choppy waters as we soared through the smoky haze. Just a few miles from Dungeness Spit, We witnessed a large group of Bigg's killer whales from the T34 family and the T37 family swimming quickly amidst the waves. We even got to see some porpoising, which is when a marine mammal launches itsself...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 8/31/2022 | 2:00 PM

Today was the last day of August, which means our peak season for whale watching will soon be coming to an end. We see whales on 90% of our tours from June through August. Our “peak season” doesn’t actually refer to the peak of whale action, but the peak of eyes on the water. None of the whales in the area are tagged, and we don’t use any kind of sonar to find them. As members of the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), we work...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 8/25/2022 | 1:30 PM

Today we headed north, following a report by a few other whale watching captains. On our journey we passed through President’s Channel where we saw harbor seals and harbor porpoises swimming in the water next to our vessel. Then we crossed Boundary Pass and the Canadian border into the Strait of Georgia. It was between Saturna Island and Mayne Island that we encountered two Bigg’s killer whales. These two mammal-eaters were a mother and son...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 8/24/2022 | 1:30 PM

Today’s trip was a long haul into Canada! We heard reports of Bigg’s killer whales way north and sped as fast as we could to catch up to them. Finally, north of Saturna Island we encountered two adult whales. Mom Nootka and her eldest son Galiano, named after the nearby Galiano Island. We watched these whales zigzag through the Strait of Georgia, admiring Galiano’s massive floppy fin. This 30ft whale dwarfed his 24ft mother as they swam side-by...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 8/23/2022 | 1:30 PM

This afternoon we took a lovely cruise up San Juan Channel and past the forested northern side of Spieden Island. As we entered the Haro Strait near Stuart Island, we were able to see huge black dorsal fins and exhalations which look like 10-ft smokestacks at the surface. The group we encountered included five Bigg’s orca whales: two sisters, Pebbles and Sabio, and Pebbles’ two offspring: Jasper and Rubble. You may be wondering, who was the...

Elle | M/V Sea Lion | 8/19/2022 | 2:00PM

Today we traveled from Friday Harbor, WA to Victoria, BC and back again in search of wildlife. First we encountered Steller's sea lions at Whale Rocks, one of their favorite spots to stop and hang out as they migrate to Alaska for the summer. We were lucky this group decided to stay for a few extra months! We continued southwest until we saw blows in the distance. These turned out to be a young family of Bigg's killer whales. The mother of...