Sarah | 09/21/2018 | M/V Kestrel | 01:00pm

We had an amazing day on the water, traveling further south than Captain Mike and I had ever taken one of our boats before, and most importantly, saw killer whales! When we left Friday Harbor we had no reports of killer whales in the area, but days on the water can change moment by moment.

Leaving Friday Harbor, our plan was originally to head north past Shaw and Orcas Islands, up towards the Canadian Gulf Islands. When we have no reports...

Sarah | M/V Sea Lion | 09/20/2018 | 02:00pm

Today we enjoyed an amazing trip spent surrounded by wildlife and the beautiful scenery of the San Juan Islands. Even though we had a bit of rain throughout the day it did not deter our sightings!

We left Friday harbor and headed across San Juan Channel towards Shaw Island. Someone had reported a possible whale tucked into one of the many coves along the shoreline. Half way across the channel… POOF! A minke whale materialized out of the...

Today was an incredible day on our afternoon adventure tour from Friday Harbor. It was one of those September days that I spend allllllll summer thinking about. We left the dock under bright blue skies with great reports of whales around the San Juan Islands.

We headed north towards the reports of whales, and first encountered a pair of humpback whales know as BCY0160 “Heather” and BCY0660 “Raptor.” As we got on to scene one of the massive whales lifted its pectoral fins out of the...

[Saturday, 9/15/18, M/V Kestrel, 10:00]

On Saturday, Captain Gabe and I took a great group out on a cloudy morning to go look for some amazing wildlife. We headed up north. We went through San Juan Channel and up past East Point towards the Strait of Georgia. Here, in between Saturna Island and Point Roberts we started to see some blows in the distance. We slowed down and approached these whales we could see that they were members of the Southern Resident Killer Whale Community...

This Sunday in September sure felt like fall. Capt Gabe, Jordan, and myself headed out with a great group of passengers into the rainy blue Salish Sea. Most people visit this area in the summer, which is beautiful here. The temperature is usually super pleasant, the sun is up for a very long time, and there is usually not a rain cloud to speak of. The rest of the year though, it looks like it did today - very misty, cool, breezy, and rainy. We ventured off into the Pacific...

[Friday, 9/7/18, M/V Kestrel]

On Friday, Captain Mike and I took a group out to look for some amazing wildlife in the Salish Sea. We headed north towards the outer islands of the San Juan Islands. As we cruised north we saw a lot of Harbor Porpoises darting through the eddies around Green Point. Next, we headed further north. We headed around East Point where there is a a large number of pinnipeds! Pinnipeds are the seals, sea lions, and walruses of the world. Here we only have seals...

[Sarah | 09/03/2018 | M/V Kestrel | 02:00pm]

Yesterday’s Adventure Whale Watch was a great reminder of why I love September so much out here in the San Juans. We had so much wildlife to look for and had great encounters with whales!

We started our afternoon heading north out of Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel. We pointed for a few wildlife hot spots at Green Point on Spieden Island and then around Sentinel Island. We found harbor porpoises, harbor seals, and even some bald...

[Sarah | M/V Kestrel | 09/01/2018 | 10:00am & 02:00pm]

September is here!! My favorite month in the San Juan Islands!! Saturday’s tours on Kestrel did not disappoint, with great wildlife sightings on both tours.

10:00am Adventure Tour

On our morning departure we left the harbor and headed north towards an early report of orcas pushing north. As we crossed Boundary Pass we were treated to sweeping views before we crossed the border and entered the (equally beautiful) Canadian Gulf...

August 19- M/V Kestrel- 10:00 am

We left Friday Harbor and headed South West towards Canada where there was a report of some transient orcas.  On our way down to Victoria we got to see some harbor seals and some Steller’s sea lions.  Steller’s sea lions spend the majority of the summer on the coast or up in Alaska for their breeding season, but some have started to return!  We then went and saw a mother-son pair of transient orcas resting near Victoria.  We then got another report of...

August 28- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30 pm

Yesterday we left the dock at Friday Harbor and went North towards British Columbia.  We came across a few families of transient orcas, specifically the T100’s and the T124D’s.  In total we had 8 whales milling about in the Strait of Georgia.  Those families include a nice variety of individuals from a sprouting male to a young juvenile.  The whales were in two groups and moving very erratically, which can be somewhat difficult to maneuver around to...