Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 25, 2021 | 5:30pm

Tonight was a gorgeous, glassy evening on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. What normally is a body of rippling waves ended up being flat and silent, perfect for spotting wildlife! We journeyed south of Friday Harbor, down through San Juan Channel and into the Strait. With the perfect conditions on the water we saw a literal sea of birds! Hundreds of Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murres, Glaucous-winged gulls, and Heerman’s gulls were scattered...

There have been some subtle changes in the Salish Sea of late. Common murres have been flooding in, little phalaropes are again congregating at current lines, and it seems that another Steller’s sea lion adds itself to the slumberfest at Whale Rocks each day. In the coming days and weeks other migratory waterfowl like loons, grebes, and scoters will arrive from northern breeding and feeding sites. We’ve recently ended our sunset tours because darkness was beating us to the docks. All...

Whale Watching Report for Monday, April 23, 2012

We pulled out of Friday Harbor under bright skies. There was a whale report of animals near Anacortes headed south. So we headed south down the east side of San Juan Island. We made a stop near the south end of San Juan Island to view about 14 big, fat Stellar Sea Lions. Most were hauled out. The few near water’s edge seemed to be having a vocal and physical ‘tiff’.

I’ll spare you the ½ hour that we and several other boats...

California Sea Lion

A Warm Spring Day of Whale & Wildlife Watching from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island

Today we took off with reports of our resident orcas coming north on the west side of San Juan Island.

We headed out of Friday Harbor going north making a stop at NWR Yellow Island, and rock outcroppings with 43+ snoozing Harbor Seals.   We made our way along the coast of Speiden Island. Often times this is a great place to spot Bald Eagles – no Eagle this time.  But we did...