Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | Thursday, September 19th, 2024 | 12:30pm

Today was such a fun tour bringing in all the fall vibes. We started off our trip by heading south through San Juan Channel, stopping briefly off Turn Island to see a Sea Otter floating around in the bull kelp reef. This gave us an opportunity to chat about how the increased sightings of sea otters in the last few years all circles back to sea star wasting disease. We love conversations showing how everything is connected...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 18th, 2020 | 13:30

It was the most picture-perfect day on the water we have had yet. Immensely sunny, WARM, Mount Baker and Mount Rainier flawlessly in view, the Olympic Mountains defined on the horizon, and calm seas.  We traveled south gazing at Harbor Seals hauled out on Turn Island and watching Harbor Porpoise swim outside of Griffin Bay. Upon reaching the southern side of Lopez Island between Colville and Long Island, we caught out first glances at...

Olivia | July 24th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Starting out our second trip of the day, Captain Brian and I knew the group of Bigg’s Killer Whales we saw earlier today moved further north, pushing our range to stay between the 3 to 4 hour timeframe. We discussed this with our passengers and came to a group decision that even though there was a possibility we wouldn’t see these whales with the rate they were traveling, we were going to attempt the long trek anyway in hopes of an Orca...

Much of my time on the water this past month was spent fixated on the surface, watching colorful rusted red blobs pulsate through the water. The flowing orangish tentacles contributed to the organism’s name, the lion’s mane. The largest lion's mane ever recorded washed up on a beach in Massachusetts Bay in 1870 with a bell over 7 feet wide and tentacles 120 feet long. This is longer than a Blue Whale, putting the lion’s mane amongst the ranks in the controversial competition of the...

When you cover as much water as we do in a week, it is easy to feel proprietary about the islands and creatures found therein.  We all feel like we know and own the orcas, trees and birds.  We even feel a fondness for the slimy spineless creatures, and who wouldn't when they make up most of the biomass (living bulk) of the ocean?  So, the orcas are fabulous and I could not be happier that we have been continuing to see them everyday, but I think that the invertebrates need some...