Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 8/16/2022 | 2:00 PM 

It’s not uncommon for us to begin our trip with zero whale reports, and today was no exception. We always tell our guests that every single day, at every single hour we essentially “start over.” That’s because none of the whales in the Salish Sea are tagged, and we don’t use any type of sonar to find them. We are a part of the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), which is a private network that works organically off eye sighting reports...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 8/11/2022 | 5:30 PM

This evening's sunset cruise enjoyed glassy waters and beautiful pink clouds around Mt. Baker (also known as Koma Kulshan) as we searched for wildlife in the Salish Sea. We departed from Friday Harbor and headed north at full speed, following rumors of some larger cetaceans. On our way towards Canada, we encountered plenty of birds, including common murres, rhinoceros auklets, and a few different varieties of gulls. We also encountered several...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 7/29/2022 | 5:30 PM

This evening was full of baleen whales here in the Salish Sea! After travelling south past Cattle Point Lighthouse we settled our boat in shallow waters at the top of Salmon Bank. We were surrounded by birds at the surface, hunting the smaller fish below, in what’s known as a bait ball. These bait balls on top of Salmon Bank are a favorite hunting area for minke whales, a smaller baleen whale with a reputation for being elusive. After patiently...

7/26/22

MV Osprey

Helena

12:30pm 

The crew was anxious to get out into the cool breeze of the Salish Sea on this hot Tuesday afternoon. Our sweaty faces were met with the cool air of the San Juan Channel as Captain Gabe picked up speed. We headed north into Spieden Channel following reports of humpback whales entering the Haro Strait. Humpback whales are one of our migratory cetaceans we see in these waters. Traveling from the coasts of Maui and Baja Mexico, these humpbacks journey...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 7/28/2022 | 10:00 AM

I’ve had a lot of epic whale encounters during my time working for San Juan Safaris, and today I was blessed with yet another first! What happened you may ask? Our 10:00 am Adventure Tour took a trip to a pectoral playground!  

M/V Kestrel started the morning by taking a right out of Friday Harbor and heading south down San Juan Channel. Before heading into the strait, we made a quick stop at Goose Island. Goose Island is known for its...

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 16, 2022 |12:30PM

We set out on a cool, cloudy day from Friday Harbor in search of wildlife. We headed down south past Cattle Point on San Juan Island and pulled up to Whale Rocks, off the western tip of Lopez Island. Here we saw a haul out of harbor seals as well as Steller's sea lions. While harbor seals are here year-round, sea lions migrate out of the Salish Sea. It's pretty rare to see them here this late in the summer so we were grateful for the chance...

We didn’t have to go too far to see amazing wildlife today! We started out of Friday Harbor heading North through San Juan Channel, making our way through Spring Pass in between Jones Island and Orcas Island. We got really great views of a bald eagle resting in an exposed dead tree surrounded by beautiful red Madrona’s. We continued North to search around a known harbor seal haul out spot, hoping to find the top predators that eat them (hint hint). The seals were nestled low on the...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | 6/14/2022 |12:30PM

Captain Erick and I left the dock with a smaller group today. It’s always refreshing to have a boat with only a few folks, as it gives you the perfect opportunity to better connect with your guests. With only 8 passengers aboard, M/V Sea Lion cruised out of Friday Harbor for a quick San Juan Channel crossing right into Upright Channel. We hugged the coast of Lopez Island before puttering around Ram Island into Lopez pass. While in Lopez...

7/9/2022

Helena

MV Kestrel

2pm

The adventure tour this afternoon went north up San Juan Channel, through Speiden Channel and off the western coast of Stuart Island where we encountered not one but two Humpback Whales! This duo was actually a mother and her calf and the two were taking long (10-ish minute) dives heading south in the Haro Strait. 

The population of humpbacks migrating to the Salish Sea every summer are coming to their feeding grounds here. They will eat up to 3,000...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | July 9, 2022 | 12:30 pm

This summer is proving to be a successful time to view wildlife, and today we were able to see two of our largest marine mammals found in the Salish Sea! As we departed from Friday Harbor, we first headed south to begin our search. Making our way through Cattle Pass, we could hear roaring Steller’s Sea Lions and squawking Pelagic Cormorants and Gulls atop Whale Rocks. We continued south towards a shallow area known as Salmon Bank where...