Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 7/28/2022 | 10:00 AM

I’ve had a lot of epic whale encounters during my time working for San Juan Safaris, and today I was blessed with yet another first! What happened you may ask? Our 10:00 am Adventure Tour took a trip to a pectoral playground!  

M/V Kestrel started the morning by taking a right out of Friday Harbor and heading south down San Juan Channel. Before heading into the strait, we made a quick stop at Goose Island. Goose Island is known for its...

MV Osprey

Helena

7/17/2022

I can’t think of a better Sunday afternoon spent than on MV Osprey here in the Salish Sea! Our adventure began east through Upright Channel, the breeze was light and the sun was poking through the puffy white clouds -- perfect conditions for a day on the water. 

We stopped first to observe some Harbor Seals hauled out on a rocky reef in Lopez Sound. It is pupping season for these pinnipeds so we also had the pleasure of getting looks at some adorable pups...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 05/01/2022 | 1:30pm

    Today was kinda perfect. Before we even began suiting up a group of Killer Whales had been picked up in the Juan de Fuca and were angled straight up towards the San Juans. We hadn’t even touched water and it was already shaping up to be a great day!

    We stopped first at Goose Island and scoped out the Glaucus Gulls, Double Crested and Pelagic Cormorants that rested on the rocks steep sides. 

    We continued onward and it didn’t take...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 09/16/2021 | 2:00pm

    Kestrel flew out of Friday harbor with purpose this morning: a family of Bigg’s Killer whales had been reported passing through Deception Pass State Park and were now traveling across the Juan De Fuca. We stopped briefly at goose island to observe the cormorants that sat proudly over their neatly stacked nests. A harbor seal passed at the water's edge, diving to forage amongst the Bull Kelp forest that sat between us and the bird Island...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 09/03/2021 | 2:00pm

    Today was a pretty cold day. Grey clouds covered the sky and seemed to block out the sun as Kestrel raced down the San Juan channel towards the Juan De Fuca. In my time working on boats however, I’ve learned to really value a grey day. I find it’s much easier to spot whales or even simply disturbances on the water when there’s not an intense glare from the sun. A sharp black orca dorsal fin can be pretty hard to miss on a day like...

[Saturday, 4/14/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

Like most places in the northern hemisphere springtime is about balance. We get some bright sunny days where all the flowers seem to sing spring, and other days we get the classic drizzly Pacific Northwest weather. Today on our noon tour Captain Mike, Piper, and I took a group out on M/V Sea Lion to search for wildlife among these amazing islands. We headed north in San Juan Channel. We made our first stop just a little...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 7/19/17, 5:30PM]

We left from Friday Harbor on our evening tour with a whole great group aboard the M/V Sea Lion. Captain Mike, Sarah C., and I started our search south. We passed Lopez and San Juan Islands through Cattle Pass. As we motored along we passed many Harbor Seals, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Pelagic Cormorants swimming and playing in the dynamic waters in between the islands. We ended up motoring pretty far through Haro Strait and a...

  Today with beautiful weather the two Kenmore Air sea planes touched down at the dock and we were there waiting to take the guests for a wildlife tour.  The group included people from Denmark, Sweden and Japan.

We went down the east side of San Juan Island stopping a few times to view birds and harbor seals. We had a good look at a mature bald eagle, solo, at the top of a tree. As we neared the southern-most tip of the island, we stopped (turned off the engine) and sat to watch...