Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | May 23rd, 2022 | 12:30pm

The Pacific Northwest decided to pull one of her most cliché moves by raining on a day that didn’t call for it; but off we went with happy faces ready for whatever the day brought. Heading north, we stopped at Flattop Island admiring heaps of Pigeon Guillemots with their red feet bold against the green water. Nearby we found several Harbor Seals swimming along the basalt rock as well as an adult Bald Eagle stoically looking across the...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | June 16th, 2021 | 12:30pm

Another clear day graced us with the presence of Mount Rainier beaming high atop the Puget Sound to the south. We set off with the volcano guiding our way, passing Harbor Porpoises swimming outside Upright Channel. Passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and keeping it on our starboard side, we continued around Salmon Bank aiming for False Bay off San Juan Island. 

Not only did we catch a Bald Eagle chasing after a Rhinoceros Auklet upon...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | May 30th, 2021 | 12:30pm

Our sunny Sunday started off with heaps of Pigeon Guillemots exploring the inner Friday Harbor as we slowly made our way out of the hustle and bustle of the holiday traffic. Scouting out reports from multiple directions around the San Juan Islands, we made the decision to head north up San Juan Channel in the direction of the outer islands!

We were able to pass not only more Pigeon Guillemots, but also Rhinoceros Auklets, a variety of...

Olivia | M/V Osprey | May 29th, 2021 | 12:30pm

Kicking off Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we left the dock with Koma Kulshan (Mount Baker) standing tall on the blue horizon as the water below sparkled in the mid-morning sun. Captain Gabe decided to start our adventures south through San Juan Channel. With the glassy water laid out in front of us, it made our ventures easy to spot Harbor Porpoise surfacing for a warm breath of air. These chocolate chip dorsal fins really stand out...

Erick | M/V Sea Hawk | 12:00 | Wednesday, July 23, 2020

Today, we had a trip on M/V Sea Hawk out of Roche Harbor. I love taking Sea Hawk out. She has a great viewing platform from the bow, where you are raised a little off the water but not too much, so you feel like you are a little more part of what is happening in the water around you. She also started her life as a salmon fishing boat in Puget Sound and has switched over to ecotourism as her fun retirement job. Wyatt and I took...

Olivia | June 29, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Sunset tours are always favored by the staff, and for good reason! Calm seas, gorgeous, golden sunset over the water, and Cattle Point Lighthouse silhouetted in the background- what’s not to love? We started off the tour heading south towards Salmon Bank where there were potential wildlife sightings. We saw heaps of Pigeon Guillemots, Auklets, Gulls, and Bald Eagles as we traveled down the San Juan Channel. We even saw a juvenile Bald...

Olivia | June 27, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Our morning trip out on M/V Kestrel definitely started off as an adventure as we were getting everyone suited up in the rain. Despite the June showers, we wore smiling faces as we set out to find the whales we received word about. We traveled north through the San Juan Channel and made a pit stop at Flattop Island to look at some Harbor Seals who were napping on the coastline. Things heated up fast as we then saw a bunch of Pigeon...

[Sunday, 4/29/18 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00 – Naturalist Erick]

This Sunday we Captain Mike and myself journeyed into the spring mist covering the San Juans. With us, we brought along a great group of folks aboard the M/V Sea Lion. We headed north through San Juan Channel and made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island. Here there is a colony of mostly adult, male Steller Sea Lions. Every day they take up different positions on this rocky point, I assume, mostly due to the...

[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...

It was another beautiful day on the water. The sun was out in full shine, the water pure glass. Out in Haro Strait at the very northeastern tip of D’Arcy Island we found two Transient Orcas (48°35.77N, 123°15.61W). We identified them as male T20 and female T21. Fortunately we were able to watch them hunt for a while.

We then continued our way around Mandarte Island, through the Cactus Islands, and back home. We saw all kinds of wildlife including Cormorants, gulls, Pigeon Guillemots...