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Adult Mal Southern Resident Orca

J Pod Orca Whales Fish north of San Juan Island!

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...

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Whale-a-palooza: Three families of Bigg's Orca Whales hunt near Patos Island

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...

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female Bigg's orcas hunting

Spyhop!: Bigg's Orca family, the T99B's, hunt and play in Rosario Strait

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...

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Bigg's male orca tail slapping

Orcas Everywhere! Three families of Bigg's Killer Whales meet in Boundary Pass!

Erick | Thursday, March 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

 

This Thursday still felt a little bit like winter. It was quite chilly with a grey sky above. Captain Mike and I headed north to go check out a report of Orcas up in Boundary Pass. We traveled through San Juan Channel and headed past Spieden and Stewart Islands into Boundary Pass. Right in Between Gooch Island and Moresby Island we saw some blows up ahead! It was not just one but two families of Orcas. Both of these families...

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2 male Bigg's Orcas

We found Killer Whales in San Juan Channel!: T101 and T90 Bigg's Orca families hunt near Friday Harbor

Erick | Wednesday, March 13, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion| | 12:00 

 

This Wednesday was one of the first days it really has felt like spring here in the islands. The sun was out and there was only a slight breeze in the air. Captain Pete and I took a good-sized crew out to go see what wonderful wildlife was also out enjoying the sunshine. We headed south after we left Friday Harbor. We rounded Turn Island and just as we made our way into Griffin Bay we saw some blows just ahead in San Juan...

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New calf in the T124A family

Sunny San Juan Islands: Two Families of Bigg's Killer Whales get their babies to play!

Erick | Saturday, March 9, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

If you can imagine a perfect March day, then that day was today. The sun was shining bright, there were a few fluffy white clouds hanging out above the islands, and the breeze was slight. Captain Mike, Sarah, and I took a pretty large group out aboard M/V Sea Lion. We left from Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. And headed south into San Juan Channel. The channels in between the main islands of the San Juan Islands are not very...

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Steller Sea Lion

Winter Wildlife Wonderland: Wildlife Watching Trip from Friday Harbor

Erick | February 17, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

'Twas a gloriously bright and sunny winter day in the San Juan Islands. Capt. Mike and I set out with a small and cozy group of folks. We headed south through San Juan Channel until we reached Cattle Pass. Here, where San Juan Channel empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, currents swirl around many jagged and bird covered islets. The rocks here are a favorite place for Steller Sea Lions to hang out and sun.  Today there were around...

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Bigg's Killer Whales and a Minke Whale

Today was an awesome day out on the water!  Our great group boarded M/V Sea Lion this afternoon and headed out east.  Once we passed over to Rosario Strait we headed north to catch up with some Transient (also known as Bigg's Killer Whales) that we had reports of!  We were so excited when we got on scene!  There were quite a few individuals- at least two families of these Bigg's Killer Whales!

We hung out for quite awhile with these amazing animals, watching their massive dorsal fins...

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Biggs Killer Whales off Lopez Ferry Landing!

What an awesome day today shaped out to be!  This trip started out wonderfully- great group of people and a beautiful day!  We didn't have any firm reports other than some possible sightings past Victoria, so we decided to start scanning San Juan Channel!  Lucky for us some orcas were picked up near the Lopez Island Ferry Terminal!

How perfect was this!  We were already headed in this direction and almost on scene!  Our guests immediately pointed out dorsal fins in the near distance...

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L87 Onyx breaches near San Juan Island

A slew of Steller Sea Lions and J pod Orcas Breaching [M/V Sea Lion, Monday, 9/24/18, 12:00]

 

Captain Mike, Sarah, and myself took out a wonderful group aboard M/V Sea Lion to look for the wide array of wildlife that we have the opportunity to watch in the Salish Sea in September. We took our group south through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass. We made our first stop mid channel in between San Juan and Lopez Islands to look at a Steller Sea Lion that had just surfaced! It was our first marine mammal of the day! This adult male had just returned to the surface after...

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