Erick | M/V Kestrel | Wednesday, September 9, 2020 | 2:00PM

September is here! This is one of my favorite months here. Things slow down quickly after Labor Day and the weather seemingly steels itself for the coming autumn. Captain Brian and I took a group out on M/V Kestrel on this warm and calm Wednesday. We headed inter-island to head towards a report of Orcas in between Whidbey Island and the mainland. We cruised in between Lopez and Blakely Islands, crossed Rosario Strait and...

Erick | M/V Sea Lion | September 2, 2020 | 1:30 PM

We have come to my favorite time of the year in the San Juan Islands! As summer ends and we inch closer to fall the world starts to slow even more down here. All the historic orchards are heavy with fruit, the last native berries are just finishing their ripening, and the crickets are ever louder in the mornings and evenings. We are usually greeted each morning by a thick fog bank moving over the islands and then the sun starts to...

Erick | M/V Sea Lion | 1:00PM | August 21, 2020

This afternoon there was the treat of rain in the sky but luckily it held off till later in the day. Captain Pete and I took out a great crew of passengers out to search for the local wildlife in the Salish Sea! We started by heading south. There were some early reports of Orcas down by Middle Bank of the southwestern side of San Juan Island. We headed straight there, and they were still travelling slowly parallel to the international...

Erick | M/V Kestrel | August 15, 2020 | 2:00PM

It was another super beautiful, sunny day out here in the San Juan Islands. Capt. Brian and I took a group out to go searching for some of our exciting local wildlife. We started by going south through San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass! We made a stop at Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. Here we saw about a dozen huge Steller Sea Lions. Some were rolling around in the water, while others were asleep on the rocks and dozing off in the...

Sarah | 08/11/2020 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00pm

We had a fabulous day on M/V Kestrel full of lots of wildlife in the Salish Sea. Captain Brian and I decided to head south out of Friday Harbor towards an earlier report of some orca on the west side of San Juan Island.

As we arrived on scene in Haro Strait, we quickly realized that we had a family of Bigg’s killer whales known as the T010s. This smll family of two consists of an adult female T010 Langara and her adult son T010C Bones...

Erick | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 PM | August 8, 2020

This afternoon the sun rally came out and the perfectly blue sky was reflected in the flat waters of the Salish Sea. Captain Brian and I headed out with a great group of passengers to go look for the local wildlife. We headed south through San Juan Channel and into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We went just a little farther south than we had gone on our first trip and again we found the same Humpback Whale there. It was still feeding...

Erick | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 AM | August 8, 2020

There is a reason that we call August Fog-ust out here. This morning started out a little grey and foggy this morning. Captain Brian and I took a good group out as the fog banks sailed in and out of San Juan Channel. As we made our way south the clouds broke, and the sun started to come out as cloud scraped the Olympic Mountains in the distance. We made our first stop at Whale Rocks where we saw a few male Steller Sea Lions growling...

Erick | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 | July 30, 2020

Today was another beautiful, sunny day here in the San Juan Islands. Captain Pete and I left the dock with some great guests in search of the marine wildlife here. We started by heading south towards Cattle Pass. We made our first stop at Turn Rocks just off of Turn Island. Here there were quite a few Pacific Harbor Seals and some pups basking in the beautiful sun. Many of them were holding their ‘banana poses’ where they hold their head...

Erick | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, July 18, 2020 | 2:00PM

It was another beautiful summer day here in the San Juan Islands! It was sunny, breezy, and beautiful blue skies everywhere you look. We could see Mt. Baker, the Olympic Mountains, and all the way down to Mt. Rainier! Capt. Brian and I took a full crew of guests out to look for whales and other wildlife. There were some early reports of some Orcas east of San Juan Island that were spotted near the ferry lane, so we headed that...

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 3/12/2020 | 12:00pm

It is always fun to report when passengers find whales from the sky as they arrive to San Juan Island via sea plane!  Two passengers had an early morning flight to Friday Harbor and sighted four orcas from above while flying over the San Juan Channel.  We boarded as quickly as possible to leave the dock with hopes of seeing these whales again!

M/V Sea Lion cruised up the channel and into Boundary Pass as everyone anxiously scanned for...