Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 008/15/2022 | 12:30pm
Today was a stunner! My goodness was it beautiful out- the sun was out and proud, Baker, Reiner and the Olympics stood boldly over the Juan de Fuca and seas were as calm as could be (we LOVE that). Kestrel carefully meandered out of Friday Harbor and zipped south through the San Juan Channel. It didn’t take too long for us to make our first stop at a haul out of Harbor Seals.
We most often see these pinnipeds hauled out on rocky...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 8/14/2022 | 12:30 PM and 5:30 PM

Today on Osprey, we spent the day with two families of Bigg's killer whales; the T099 family and the T036 family. This was a group of ten whales, including a calf born in 2021 which still had a pinkish tinge to its eye patches (the normally white spots on the side of the whale, right behind their eyes). These whales were formerly known as transient, and each individual is given an identifying set of numbers and letters, such as T...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 7/29/2022 | 12:30 PM

Today was a lucky day! Just about 15 minutes after leaving Friday Harbor and heading north, we encountered a group of Bigg’s killer whales, and turned around to accompany them south. We spent some time watching this majestic family, the T37As travelling through San Juan Channel. The whales followed a bait ball, a big group of fish under the surface which attracts tons of birds and smaller marine mammals like seals and porpoises which are prey...

7/29/22

MV Kestrel

Helena

10am

Our morning adventure tour on MV Kestrel left the sunny harbor eager for all the Salish Sea has to offer. As we are one of the first boats on the water each morning, our main focus is scanning broadly, making sure to not miss any blows or dorsal fins along shorelines! We headed south down San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass. With views of beautiful Cattle Point Lighthouse off of our starboard side, our first stop was Whale Rocks. These small rocky...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | July 19, 2022 | 10:00am & 2:00pm

10:00 am

Today’s trip was a spectacular showing of the abundant wildlife seen around the Salish Sea! We departed from Friday Harbor for our first trip in pursuit of reported killer whales along Vancouver Island, BC. En route, we scanned the glass-calm waters where we spotted Harbor Porpoises surfacing around. Confirmation of two Bigg’s Killer Whales guided us towards Sidney, BC, and James Island. The two orcas were...

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 16, 2022 |12:30PM

We set out on a cool, cloudy day from Friday Harbor in search of wildlife. We headed down south past Cattle Point on San Juan Island and pulled up to Whale Rocks, off the western tip of Lopez Island. Here we saw a haul out of harbor seals as well as Steller's sea lions. While harbor seals are here year-round, sea lions migrate out of the Salish Sea. It's pretty rare to see them here this late in the summer so we were grateful for the chance...

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 14, 2022 |12:30PM

Today our passengers soaked up the sun as we followed the ferry route throuh the San Juan Islands towards a report of some orca whales. We passed between islands and admired the contstruction work of a pair of bald eagles as we passed by a nest on Lopez Island. We were accompanied by plenty of harbor porpoises as we passed between Shaw Island and Lopez. Eventually, we entered the Rosario Strait where we came accross two fifteen-year-old male...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/28/2022 | 2:00pm

    Sometimes it's really nice to mix things up. We are super fortunate for pretty stellar weather during the summer: sunny skies and little wind. Though every now and again Mother Nature mixes it up on us, and today was one of those days. 

    Kestrel zoomed out of Friday Harbor southbound, shooting out of Cattle Pass and rounding the southern shores of Lopez Island. We stopped at Davidson Rock where we heard rumors of a Humpback whale. 

 ...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | June 18, 2022 | 12:30 pm

Around the Salish Sea, we’ve experienced a variety of whales throughout these waters. Humpback Whales have returned for the summer feeding season in huge numbers. The surprising appearance of Southern Resident Killer Whales in May drew all islanders to the west side to catch a glimpse in admiration. Following their departure came a killer whale lull, and now we’re seeing our Bigg’s Killer Whale families all around the islands!

For...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | 5/30/22 | 2:00pm |
It was overcast and a bit foggy as we suited up in our exposure suits and prepared for our Adventure tour on the M/V Kestrel! This exciting tour operates on our smallest and fastest vessel in the fleet, a zodiac style ridged inflatable that allows us to zip around the islands and maximize our chance of wildlife sightings during this 3–4-hour excursion.
As we slowly puttered out of Friday Harbor, almost instantly we were greeted by a perched...