Laura C. | 7/19/2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was absolutely exquisite on M/V Kestrel!  We had such a great time observing all the diverse wildlife found in the Salish Sea!  Our Captain Gabe rounded the bend out of Friday Harbor and we already had our first sighting, a bald eagle!  This eagle looked like he/she was supervising the vessel traffic in and out of the harbor from above and took this job very seriously! 

On our way to find whales we stumbled across some harbor seals...

Laura C. | 7/13/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 pm

This evening’s whale watch was so much fun!  Our captain Pete manned the helm as we ventured south towards Whidbey Island to find a gray whale!!  It was so exciting to see such a beautiful whale on a sunset trip!  Gray whales sift through the ocean floor in search of benthic invertebrates, a primary food source.   This leviathan was solo today and showed us his/her fluke multiple times right before heading down on a dive!  We aren’t...

Laura C. | 7-12-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

We had an awesome day aboard M/V Sea Lion!  With bright sunshine, blue skies and calm seas our vessel headed north to Canadian waters!  Suddenly a pair of humpbacks were spotted near North Pender Island!  We saw their exhalations from quite a distance and were thrilled to see fluking from both individuals!  As they brought their tails up towards the sky, a waterfall of saltwater fell over the edge of their flukes and quickly dissipated...

Olivia | July 10th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We had the most adventurous ‘Adventure Tour’ yet this season! Gearing up for the trip, Captain Brian decided to take a risk and head towards our only Killer Whale reports down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, almost bordering Haro Strait. On our way south near Cattle Point, we stopped at Whale Rocks to view Harbor Porpoises (which we saw right at the dock) and many sea birds such as Cormorants. Here’s where the adventure truly began! It...

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[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 08/27/17, 1:30 pm Tour]

Oh my goodness - another amazing afternoon trip out on the water today! We had an amazing encounter with a humpback...

Lauren Fritz, 07/06/17, M/V Sea Lion, 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm Tours

What a day! Passengers on both of our tours were able to watch Transient orcas cruising through the Salish Sea. On our first trip, Captain Mike, Naturalist Sarah, and I decided to head over to a family of Tranisents that were hanging out near Salt Spring Island. What a beautiful journey it was! I hadn't been out this way yet this year, and I always love checking out the Canadian Gulf Islands. The San Juans are beautiful...

Today the Sea Lion ventured north under a sunny sky full of happy people and some happy naturalists: Mike and Tyler. We had some reports of Humpback whales up in Canadian waters so that is where we headed! Just outside the harbor we saw our first bald eagle fly overhead along with some rhinoceros auklets in the water. We headed towards White Rock, on which there were upwards of 20 harbor seals hauled out. Our harbor seals come in many colors: from white to black and all combinations...

The gigantic dorsal fins of Blackberry (J-27) and Double Stuf (J-34) sliced through the flat water as we rounded Mouat Point of North Pender Island. The two males appeared to be feeding when they would pause from their northward travel pattern to circle one another as they powerfully taillob the surface. Double Stuf, in his early stages of maturity at the age of 13, still bears a curved and skinner dorsal from youth. A group of four orcas, which consisted of a very small individual...