Laura C. / M/V Sea Lion / 8/18/2019 / 1:30 pm

Today was an awesome trip aboard M/V Sea Lion!  The windy atmosphere produced a bustling Salish Sea, filled with waves and wildlife!  We headed towards Middle Bank and found J 16s moving southwest at about 7-8 knots!  The J16s are a three-generation matriline apart of J Pod, consisting of 6 matrilines!  Today, was watched this family of four cruising with the rolling seas!  We saw J26, aka “Mike”, sporting his tall dorsal fin and towering...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Friday, August 16, 2019 | 3:00 PM

What an incredible afternoon of viewing wild animals in the Salish Sea! We left south out of Friday Harbor and headed toward a report of a large family of killer whales near Victoria. We went through San Juan Channel and rounded past Cattle Point lighthouse, which marks the southernmost point on San Juan Island! We entered into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the weather was absolutely beautiful! The seas were calm and the sun was...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Friday, August 16, 2019 | 11:00 AM 

It was an incredible trip this afternoon out of Friday Harbor. As soon as we left the harbor, we saw a bald eagle flying towards the treeline. It was awesome to see its 6 foot wingpsan! We saw it land in one of the trees at the very top, and then we continued on our way toward a report of some Bigg's killer whales. The whales were closeby to where we were, so we spent some time searching for other wildlife on the way. We went...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Thursday, August 15, 2019 | 5:30 PM

This evening was the greatest trip of all time. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We went through some upwelling zones near Cattle Point lighthouse, which were bringing food to the water's surface and causing birds to gather around us. Cattle Point lighthouse marks the southernmost point of San Juan Island, and it is a gorgeous beacon. We entered into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and headed toward False Bay...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, August 13, 2019 | 1:30 PM

It was an absolutely wonderful trip in the Salish Sea today. We left the harbor with numerous reports of large whales in the area, so we headed towards them. We made our through the San Juan Channel and into Spieden Channel. We crossed into Haro Strait and towards Gooch Island, where we soon saw a large blow in the distance. When we got closer, we saw that it was a humpback whale. The whale was taking really short dives and not...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Sunday, August 11, 2019 | 5:30 PM 

It was a lovely evening in the Salish Sea. We began our trip not knowing which direction we wanted to head. There were whales either very southeast of us or far northwest of us. Captain Erick decided to head in the northwest direction, where there was a report of a lone killer whale. We headed up the San Juan Channel, which was quite calm. We were able to see harbor porpoises popping up around us throughout the channel. They...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Today's trip was magical! We started our trip with no firm reports of whales, so we decided to head toward the Strait of Georgia and cover some different areas than other boats were covering. We were going for a whale search. We stopped by Flattop Island, which is an important wildlife refuge. Here we saw harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and swimming around in the water. At one point, one of them even jumped...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Monday, July 29, 2019

What an incredible day packed with wildlife in the Salish Sea! When we left Friday Harbor, the sun was shining and it was shaping up to be a gorgeous day. We headed north out of the harbor toward a report of orcas in Boundary Pass! The water was calm, and we were all excited to see wildlife. We stopped past White Rock, which is south of Waldron Island. It is an important wildlife refuge for pinnipeds and birds alike. We saw a lot...

Erin | Sunday, July 28, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

What an incredible afternoon aboard the M/V Kestrel! The sun was shining when we left the harbor, and we were all ready for a wildlife adventure! We left Friday Harbor and headed north toward some reports of orcas in Boundary Pass. Since the reports of the whales were so close to where we were, we figured we could go and search for some other wildlife before heading towards the orcas. We went to Spieden Island and cruised along...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

This was a trip for the books! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and headed back towards where we had seen whales on our previous trip, in the Strait of Georgia. We stopped past White Rock, which is a very interesting location. It is important for both birds and harbor seals. There were lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, some of which had pups! There was one pup that was moving around on the rocks. It was...