[Monday 2/19/2018, M/V Sea Lion 12:00, Naturalist Erick]

It seems winter is here again and bringing with it some mildly cold weather. Luckily, though, when the mercury drops here it also brings bright sunny days. So, on this sunny Presidents’ Day Captain Mike and I took a small crew out to go find some spectacular wildlife in the Salish Sea. We headed south to go search through San Juan Channel and eventually the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Our first stop was at Whale Rocks just...

[Naturalist Erick, Friday 10/27/17, M/V Sea Lion, 12:00]

All of western Washington’s coastline has jumped headlong into fall this week. We have been basking in the warm autumn sunshine and cool fall breezes that mark some of the best days for wildlife watching in San Juan Islands.

Migration Station

On Friday, we started our adventure by traveling north. Autumn means southward migration for both birds and some whale species. The past few weeks we have been seeing Humpback Whales...

[Naturalist Sarah – 10/26/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Today was a great example of why we never stop scanning the water as we travel through the Salish Sea. After a whirlwind adventure north into the Canadian Gulf Islands, our persistence was rewarded by an encounter with a pair of humpback whales.

The Plan

Leaving Friday Harbor we headed north on the M/V Sea Lion. Captain Mike and I decided to head up into waters that hadn’t been covered by any whale watchers today. There had...

Saturday, October 7 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00 PM :

When the M/V Sea Lion began its voyage today, the captain, crew, and guests had no idea that we’d be witnessing the pure power and agility of our namesake!  As we left Friday Harbor, we headed through Upright Channel and down the east side of Lopez Island. We had gorgeous views of Anacortes, and, as we rounded the southern tip of Lopez, of the Olympic Peninsula, with its mountains raising high above the Salish Sea. Captain Mike slid the...

[Naturalist Sarah – 09/30/2017 – M/V Kestrel –  02:00pm]

Saturday was a beautiful illustration of the varying weather conditions we can experience here in the Pacific Northwest. On M/V Kestrel, wearing Mustang Survival Suits, we keep you prepared for the huge swings in weather conditions we can receive in the Fall and Spring! As we prepared to leave, we experience a deluge of rain, which weakened into a slight on and off drizzle as the trip progressed.

Heading south from Friday...

 M/V Sea Lion: Sunday 9/17 @ 12pm

An Early Autumn Afternoon

We started our whale watching trip on a gorgeous, cool and crisp early autumn afternoon.  Our enthusiastic group wasn’t going to let a few sprinkles of rain put a damper on our excitement for what was to come!  We loaded onto M/V Sea Lion- our trusty vessel for the trip- and departed on our adventure.  The crew offered fashionable rain slickers and blankets to anyone who wanted to ensure they keep dry, but mother nature...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 8/31/17, 1:30PM]

            On Thursday, Captain Pete, Rachel, and I took a great group of folks out on a wildlife watching adventure! We started out by heading west towards Vancouver Island to search for large baleen whales to the south of the Canadian city of Victoria. After crossing Haro Strait we saw a blow off in the distance! As we got closer we saw a small Humpback Whale swimming near Constance Bank. This one was a young one, but that...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Kestrel, 8/28/17, 2:00PM]

            It was Captain Gabe and me again today, going out there to have a bunch of fun with folks aboard the Kestrel. We started on a longer than usual trip heading south, then west towards Victoria and Vancouver Island. We headed there and went further west, beyond Race Rocks – the furthest point south along Vancouver Island. We almost made it to Sooke when we saw the group of Transient (Bigg’s) Orcas that we were looking for...

[Naturalist Sarah C. 8/24/17 M/V Sea Lion 1:30 Departure]

An itty bitty humpback has been spotted perusing the waters south of Lopez Island for three days in a row now. This little whale nubbin obviously favors his chosen location, and it's an unusual one for massive baleen whales like him to be spotted in, much less observed feeding in for days on end.

Adult humpbacks are generally 40 to 50 feet long, the same lenght as a school bus! Juveniles like this just-over-one-year-old whale...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 8/8/17, 5:30PM]

            Yesterday, Captain Pete and I embarked on a beautiful sunset cruise. It was a beautiful evening. The water as we left Friday Harbor was flat calm and almost looked unreal underneath the orange sunlight of late afternoon. We’ve been having some amazing sunsets with the smoky haze that has covered the islands for a week now. The sun sets as an orange orb each night creating an extraordinary fiery sky.

This is the sky...