The Story

Apologies, this story is more Attenborough than Melville

The Salish Sea is grand and dynamic. It has wide open straits, tight passes, deeply carved trenches and sloping shallow banks. Within every nook and cranny of this large inland sea there is life. These nutrient rich waters support a large diversity of invertebrates, fishes, and marine mammals as well as a few rapidly growing human metropolises. Every day we go out we have the opportunity to see seals, sea lions, and a...

Naturalist Rachel, M/V Sea lion, March 28, 2018      

Today we were lucky to find an abundance of wildlife in the San Juan Islands.  First we headed to Spieden Island where we saw a large haul out of Steller’s Sea Lions.  We also spotted some non-native sheep as well.  We then went up to Canada where we saw a lone Pacific white sided dolphin, commonly referred to as lags.  This was the first time in multiple years that either Brian or I had observed these charismatic creatures.  This...

[Sunday – 3/25/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

      On Sunday here in the islands Mike, Sarah, and I took a great group of folks out to see what we could find in the cool waters of the Salish Sea. We started north through San Juan Channel and towards the outer islands of this little archipelago. We squeezed in between Jones and Orcas Island and took a quick stop to take a peek at some Harbor Porpoises. These are the most common and also the smallest cetaceans (whales...

[Friday -  3/23/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     This Friday, Captain Mike and I took ourselves with a great group of guests out on a little adventure. We headed north on this nice spring day and pointed towards Spieden Island. We were on a search for exciting wildlife and our first stop was the eastern end of Spieden Island, called Green Point. Here we found one of the Steller Sea Lion colonies in the San Juans. This colony is only here in the winter months and...

Saturday, March 24th | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Under today’s blue skies the M/V Sea Lion took to the Salish Sea with Captain Mike, naturalist Erick, myself, and a boat full of enthusiastic visitors! We pointed our sights north in search of whales and wildlife and soon found ourselves at Green Point on Spieden Island watching a raft of Steller’s sea lions frolic in the currents. These giants must have thought the M/V Sea Lion was one of them because as we floated there we were treated...

[Saturday, 3/17/18 - 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

     We were blessed with yet another sunny day for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day. Captain Mike and I headed out again with a great group of guests and looked northward for exciting wildlife in the San Juan archipelago. We first stopped at Green Point on Spieden Island and looked at a large group of Steller Sea Lions rafting and swimming in the strong current streaming off of the point. This...

[Friday - 3/9/18 - 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Banking on Wildlife

            These past few days we have had a great streak of weather that is making it really feel like spring up here in the islands. Bright, calm, sunny days with a light breeze and a small rain shower in the afternoon. The plants and animals are starting to notice too. Some of our overwintering birds are starting to head back up north and even a few flowers have started to bloom! This Friday was...

[Monday, 3/5/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            Monday, Mondays. Today, we had an extra small group join us for another sunny day in the San Juan Islands. Captain Mike and I headed north towards Spieden Island to start our adventure. We first stopped at Green Point on Spieden Island to looks at the big groups of sleepy Steller Sea Lions there. Sleeping, they look like giant fluffy lumps lined up on the rocks and we watched them for a while and rode the strong...

[Saturday, 3/3/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

This Saturday, we headed out again on another rare, sunny spring day! Captain Mike and I took our small group of guests north towards the outer islands of the San Juans and the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia. We made our first stop at Green Point (the eastern-most point on Spieden Island just north of San Juan). Here at Green Point is a favorite haul out spot for our largest pinniped species and the largest Sea...

[Friday, 3/2/18 - 12:00 - M/V Sea Lion - Naturalist Erick]

A Steller Start

            Here at San Juan Safaris we are having a great time since starting one-a-day tours on March 1st. This Friday, Captain Mike and I took out a small group of folks to look for wildlife on a quintessential Pacific Northwest weather day. There was no rain but all around you could see the tree tops scraping the clouds and creating the undulating mist that often surrounds the islands this time of year...