Erick | Monday, April 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

The Spring BLOOM has arrived! Noooo I don’t mean all the wildflowers blooming on all the prairies around the islands (well, they are blooming too). I’m talking about the phytoplankton and zooplankton! Every spring once daylight hours hit a certain threshold and there are enough nutrients floating around the phytoplankton re populate exponentially thereby feeding the zooplankton and eventually the whole ecosystem! Your can see...

[Sarah | 04/14/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm]

Today was a stark difference to yesterday’s stormy weather. We had high clouds and some rain squalls rolling through the area, but the strong west wind had disappointed a bit. Leaving just some residual breeze. Captains Erick and Brian and I decided to head north of Friday Harbor towards Canadian waters to search for some wildlife. We shot north to put ourselves in prime position in nutrient-laden waters with other whale watching boats...

[Sarah | 04/12/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm]

Today was a fantastic day spent in the Salish Sea. The sun was shining, the water was calm, and we had wildlife to find! Leaving the dock in Friday Harbor we had no reports of whales in the area, but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits. Reports can change and come in at any time, so we elected to head north on a search pattern.

Just after we left the dock Captains Erick and Brian got a report of a whale to our east, we quickly ducked...

Erick | Tuesday, April 9, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

It was raining in the morning here, but by the time we were taking our lovely passengers out to go find some exciting wildlife the sun had come out on another glorious spring day. Captain Brian, Alexandria, and myself took this group aboard M/V Sea Lion north through San Juan Channel. We made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island to view the smorgasbord of pinnipeds hauled out there. On the sunbaked rocky shore there...

Erick | Monday, March 25, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

It felt a little bit more like normal springtime weather today. There was a heavy grey cloud cover that diffused all the sun light, but the good news is that the clouds were quite high up so you could still see far into the distance where Mt. Baker loomed on one side and the Olympic Mountains stretched west on the other. Captain Mike, Alex, and I took an excited group out to look for all the fun spring time wildlife in the...

Erick |Friday, March 22, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

Today we caught a short sunny period as we left Friday Harbor to search for some amazing wildlife on this beautiful spring day. Captain Mike and I left with a smaller group and headed north up through beautiful San Juan Channel. We cruised through Spieden Channel and went out into the northern part of Haro Strait and soon saw a few scattered groups of blows in the distance. It was a large group of Orcas travelling spread out...

Erick | Tuesday, March 19, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

Today. We took a wonderful group of folks out on a pretty warm sunny very springtime day. Captain Pete, myself, and Alex motored south to look at Griffin Bay and saw some Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks soaking up the sun as much as we were. We did not see any whales so we turned and headed north. Right around Turn Rock we saw a Steller Sea Lion that had grabbed a Giant Pacific Octopus! He was tearing into it and swallowing...

Erick | Monday, March 18, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 12:00 

Spring is here! On this warm and sunny day Captain Brian and I took a great small group out on Kestrel to see what wildlife was out enjoying the sunshine too. We headed out of Friday Harbor and almost saw blows immediately! They were right off the shore of Brown Island. We approached this group of whales and soon saw that they were Bigg’s Orcas. Orcas aka Killer Whales are divided into different ‘ecotypes’. These ecotypes are...

Erick | Friday, March 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

On Friday, it was another beautiful sunny day that reminded us that spring is just around the corner for us! Captain Mike and I headed out with a great group up north to go see what we could find! We headed through San Juan Channel, then to Spring Pass, and through Presidents Channel. In Presidents Channel we got to see a lot of Harbor Porpoise. I sometimes call this area Porpoise alley. Harbor Porpoises are definitely our...

[Sarah |11/10/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm]

We had a wonderful day out on the water enjoying mild November weather and great wildlife. Starting out the day we had some reports of whales far to the west, but as we left the harbor our plans changed with a report of whales far closer to home. Leaving Friday Harbor Captain Brian got a call from another boat that drastically altered our plans.

Instead of heading south and west, Captain Brian steered the M/V Sea Lion inter-island...