Olivia | July 31st, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

This evening, the whales made our job very easy! Captain Pete and I brought our passengers around the northern side of San Juan Island, through Spieden Channel, and down towards Lime Kiln. Prior to getting there, we spotted the same family group of Bigg’s Killer Whales that we saw south of San Juan Island earlier that morning. The T46B1’s were feeding right outside of Mosquito Pass and comprised of three individuals, including the...

Jordan | July 18, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 trip

Today was a lovely day! Even though the day started out with a gray, cloud covered sky with a brisk breeze in the air, by mid-trip, the clouds parted and blue skies lit up our morning.

Captain Gabe and I heard of whales on the west side of San Juan! So, excited to start the day, we booked it out of Friday Harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. We passed by southern point of San Juan, Cattle Point, and headed up the west...

June 10, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 Sunset 

Today the 5:30 sunset tour hosted a small group of enthusiastic whale lovers! Captain Pete and I heard reports of orcas heading north along the east side of San Juan Island so we decided to head around the north end of the island and down the east side to meet them.

As we neared Lime Kiln, the first spouts were detected! Eventually we realized that multiple groups were swimming around the boat: the T86s, T100s and T101s. These beautiful...

Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 7/18/17, 6:00 pm Tour

Today's sunset trip was a real treat for those of us on M/V Sea Lion. As we pulled away from the dock in Friday Harbor, we were excited to venture out and meet up with some of our Southern Resident Killer Whales that had been sighted earlier near the southwestern side of San Juan Island. These whales were members of L-pod, one of the three Southern Resident Killer Whale pods that we see out here in the Salish Sea. J-pod and K-pod were...

When I heard the vocalizations of orcas at the Lime Kiln hydrophone this morning, I knew it would be an entertaining day. The whale chatter seemed excited and endless!

Several hours later when we were viewing the same animals from the M/V Sea Lion, they were still partying hard. We watched a large group of Southern Resident Killer Whales begin to disperse as they entered Boundary Pass from Turn Point, heading toward the Pender Island bluffs. Soon small socializing groups of...

Today, Captain Jim and myself, got to spend our afternoon a little differently since we had a charter on the M/V Kittiwake. This charter was special because we got a great family from Chicago, Illinois, who had an affinity for lighthouses! I got to "wow" them with my endless knowledge of lighthouses, or at least about the lighthouses on San Juan Island. As we took a leisurely drive along the west side of San Juan Island, we were able to see both Cattle Point and Lime Kiln Lighthouses...

Busy Saturday on the water today, but the whales didn’t seem to mind!!! Members of Jpod had spread out almost half the length of San Juan traveling south in Haro Strait between Lime Kiln and False Bay (48°32.15N, 123°00.87W). The first whale we encountered was Doublestuff (J34) rolling around and traveling amongst a few females enjoying the sunshine and family time.

The next group we came across was Hy’Shqa (J37) and her VERY new born calf J49 with Grandma Samish (J14)...

Today we headed out in full force with both boats, the Sea Lion and Kittiwake. We heard a few rumors of Big Black Fish milling around Lime Kiln so we headed in that direction. As we passed South Beach we saw our first group of dorsal fins break the water surface ( Haro Strait, 48°26.27N 123°01.48W).

Big “Mike” (J26) somehow made his way into a group of female K’s including “Raggedy” (K40) and seemed to be looking for a hot a date! He was definitely showing off what he’s got...

We had our first sunset tour of the season tonight and the only way to describe it was AMAZING! We had a small intimate group as we headed north out of Friday Harbor and quickly made our way to the west side of San Juan Island. The water was a bit choppy as we rounded Roche Harbor, but it made for a very adventurous and exciting boat ride! Just north of Lime Kiln one of our guests spotted a dorsal fin close to shore. Then we all spotted a lot more dorsal fins and misty blows. The...

Salmon Bank was the place to be today. We headed south out of Friday Harbor, prepared for rain but pleasantly surprised that it stopped just as we left our boat slip. Along our way we stopped to view a large group of harbor seals hauled out. A few gave us a demonstration of how phocids, true seals, move around on land without being able to rotate their hind flippers under their body by scooting off the rocks into the water. Continuing south, we slowed by Goose Island to watch and...