Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/05/19 | 11:00am

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, random dogs were barking in the distance; it was looking like a great start to our whale watch!

Captain Gabe and I took our new friends out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel. We headed down south through the San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point.

Along the way we stopped to watch a big bait ball! Swarms of birds were pecking at the surface of the water and diving down to catch fish that were balled...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Saturday, August 31, 2019

It was such a beautiful afternoon in the Salish Sea! We headed south out of Friday Harbor and travelled through some very active upwelling zones. Upwelling is caused when water runs into structures that are above and below the surface. We especially see upwelling when the tide is either ebbing or flowing. The tide was flowing, so there were some areas of whitewater that were pretty intense! It is magnificent to be able to see...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 8/31/2019 | 1:30 pm

Today was a marvelous day aboard M/V Sea Lion!  With several reports of whales in the area, we headed northbound through San Juan Channel full of excitement and anticipation of our upcoming wildlife sightings!  As we rounded San Juan Island into the Haro straight we found harbor porpoises cruising through the area in search of some fish!  These animals prefer areas with strong upwelling and current changes providing more prey availability...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Saturday, August 31, 2019

Today was an absolutely phenomenal day full of breaching and surface-active behaviors! We headed south out of Friday Harbor with the sun shining and the water calm. We made our way down to Cattle Point. At Cattle Point, we saw some upwelling happening around us. It was incredible! We then went over to Whale Rocks, which had Steller sea lions hauled out on them and swimming around them! They are massive animals, weighing up to...

Jordan | M/V Kittiwake | 08/30/19 | 3:00pm

What a lovely day! Captain Gabe and I sped down through the San Juan Channel, out of Friday Harbor, and past Cattle Point lighthouse, towards the open waters of hope.

The sun had finally come out and the water looked dazzling as it shimmered in the sunlight. We boated and boated following the coast of San Juan and further out towards the Olympic Peninsula.

Then, we found orcas! But, not just any orcas, the southern resident orca whales! This...

Jordan | M/V Kittiwake | 08/30/19 | 11:00am

What a fantastic day out on the water! Captain Gabe and I took the Kittiwake and 10 of our new best friends out of Friday Harbor and south towards hopeful reports of whales.

We knew it was cloudy but wow, once we reached Cattle Point, it turned into one giant wall of fog! We could barely see anything! I was pretty amazed by the odd phenomenon as we boated slowly and avoided other boats on our radar. Then, we burst through the fog into the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/28/19 | 1:30pm

What a great trip!

Captain Pete, Naturalist Laura and I headed out of Friday Harbor and south down through the San Juan Channel and out into open waters. We passed by Cattle Point lighthouse and towards the Olympic Peninsula, scanning the glassy water for any signs of whales.

We passed by harbor porpoises bursting through the water with their tiny fins and swarms of sea birds everywhere!

Suddenly, Captain Pete caught word of some whale...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/25/19 | 11:00am

We saw so much wildlife today!

Captain Gabe and I boated out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel and headed south down through the San Juan Channel.

We stopped by huge rocks sitting in the middle of the channel and found Steller sea lions! These massive bouldering creatures crawled around the island, finding places to collapse for a nap.  Others swam in the water, diving between stalks of a bull kelp forest! Really amazing to see the huge animals...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, August 23, 2019 | 1:30 PM 

It was an incredible trip watching whales in the Salish Sea today! We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor, as we had some very promising reports of Bigg's killer whales around Smith Island. We headed through the San Juan Channel and went through Cattle Pass, where we got an excellent view of Cattle Point lighthouse! We then went into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which was abundant with wildlife. On our way toward...

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...