Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | April 12th, 2021 | 13:00

What a clear day in the San Juan Islands! Not only could we see Koma Kulshan (Mount Baker) standing tall from the North Cascades, but we could also see Tahoma (Mount Rainier) to the south! You know it is a special day in the Salish Sea when both volcanoes are making an appearance. Starting off the trip, Captain Sarah took us south through San Juan Channel passing heaps of Rhinoceros Auklets. On the southern side of Salmon Bank, we...

Jordan Higgins Blogs

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 04/11/2021 |1:00pm

What a gorgeous day today! It was the first day of the year where I genuinely felt warm and wore my T-shirt around the harbor! I knew right away that it was going to be a good day.

Captain Pete and I hopped on the boat with our 35 new friends and took off up the San Juan Channel and headed towards Flattop Island. Here we found 3 beautiful bald eagles! Two adults which we presumed were a mated pair and a juvenile bald...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion| March 26th, 2021| 13:00

Heading south today towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we immediately spotted a swimming Steller’s Sea Lion, as well as multiple species of cormorants, gulls, and even loons! This was a good foreshadow for what was to come at Whale Rocks at the bottom of Cattle Pass. Slowing down to gain a better look, we not only saw multiple Harbor Seals right at the base of the water’s edge, but also heaps of hauled out Steller’s Sea Lions! These...

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...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, August 10, 2019 | 11:00 AM 

The rain didn't stop our wildlife sightings this morning! We left Friday Harbor with no firm whale reports, so we decided to head south to see if we could find anything for ourselves. We stopped past a neat place called Whale Rocks. All around us we could see evidence of upwelling, and there was even a baitball nearby! A baitball is when birds are gathered at the surface of the water because of the presence of baitfish...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Saturday, August 10th

What a grayyyyy-t day we had today.  We boarded onto the boat and started our trek out of Friday harbor.  Within a few minutes we received a report of a gray whale spotted of Whidbey Island.  We headed south down San Juan Channel and stopped after making it through Cattle Pass to check out some Steller Sea Lions that have just returned to the area after spending their summer up in Alaska.

After spending a fun time watching...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/22/19 | 1:30pm

What an adventure!

Today, Captain Pete, Naturalist Erin and I headed out of Friday Harbor with no reports of whales!

We searched and searched the surrounding area. We boated up through the channel between Shaw and Lopez and down under Decatur Island and through the Lopez Passage. We headed across the Rosario Strait, all the while looking for any signs of wildlife.

We made it all the way to Whidbey Island and here we found a blow really...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 3:00 PM

What a lovely trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this afternoon. We began our trip going north out of Friday Harbor because we heard that there was a gray whale travelling along the shoreline of Shaw Island! We were barely ten minutes into our trip when we saw a beautiful blow up at the surface. It was indeed a gray whale. The whale was travelling very quickly, but we saw it take 2-3 breaths at the surface and then go back down for 3-5...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 11:00 AM

It was an absolutely wildlife-filled day on the water this morning. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We made our way to Cattle Point and got a lovely view of the lighthouse. Then we went directly across the San Juan Channel to Whale Rocks and we saw over 20 harbor seals hauled out of the water! There were a few swimming around in the water as well. Not only were there harbor seals, but there was a Steller's...

Piper | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

On today’s bright, sunny afternoon tour, Captain Pete, Jordan, and I took an awesome boat full of people into the Salish Sea to look for some whales and wildlife! Not very far outside of the marina of Friday Harbor we spotted a gray whale moving north through San Juan Channel! It’s quite rare for us to get gray whales this far north in the Salish Sea; when they are seen here, they’re typically spotted south near Whidbey Island...