[6/24 5:30 SL]

It's Pirate Days here in the San Juans! Folks stroll around town, flaunting their best pirate attire, skull-and-crossbone flags decorate our marina railings, there are concerts abound, and even two historic tall ships are available for sailing trips! It's been a weekend full of excitement and surprise, since it's the 1st annual festival that San Juan Island has hosted. What we didn't expect when heading out on our 5:30 whale watch was having the opportunity to witness...

(6/24/17 - Kestrel 10AM and 2PM Departure)

Today we left Friday Harbor and headed South toward some common whale feeding grounds.  We found one lone humpback whale milling around a small area.  One major difference between toothed whales (orcas) and baleen whales (humpback whales) is their social structure.  Toothed whales are generally stay in family groups called pods, while baleen whales are mostly solitary but will sometimes pair up for short periods of time, anywhere from a few...

[06/23/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 02:00pm]

M/V Kestrel is our newest vessel in our fleet of four, and she has consistently proven to be an amazing tool over the last year of use. Going into her second summer as a part of our fleet I am excited to see how we can continue to use this incredible boat to better our guest experience. We are consistently impressed by the smoothness of the ride and just the sheer distance that we can cover on this boat.

Yesterday’s tour was a great example of...

[6/23/17- M/V Sea Lion- 1:30PM]  The sun has returned to the San Juan Islands! Not a cloud in the sky was spotted as M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor. The start of summer has been in full swing, and this was a beautiful taste of what is to come for the upcoming months.

We bobbed and weaved amongst the islands and tides, spotting harbor seals and various sea birds. After some time, we spotted quite a large pod of harbor porpoise spread out amongst the tides. Typically boat shy...

(6/22/17 - Sea Lion 1:30pm Departure)

We left Friday Harbor with a great group of guests who seemed genuinely excited to learn about the wildlife that we were going to see.  We left our dock heading up San Juan Channel, through Haro Strait and into Canadian waters.  As we were traveling we got a few great looks at some harbor seals who popped their heads up near the boat.  We also saw about four bald eagles in flight over Spieden Island.  We made it into the Canadian Gulf Islands...

[2017/06/19 ~ M/V Kestrel, 1000 and 1400 departures]

It was humpback mania in the Salish Sea today. Not only did the M/V Kestrel see four different humpbacks, but our other vessels also humpbacks! Altogether, we estimate that San Juan Safaris saw six different humpbacks today. That may not sound like much, but the Salish Sea is home to a relatively small population of humpbacks, estimated at 45 individuals last year. So, really, we saw 11% of our humpback whale population today. That...

(06/18/2017 -Kestrel 2:00 pm Departure)

Today was a true Pacific Northwest day here in the San Juan Islands, with light rain and fog throughout the entire day.  We headed South towards reports of transient killer whales.  On our way to the whale report we stopped by the whale rocks to see some Steller’s sea lions.  Many of these huge animals were hauled out on the rocks while a few were playing in the water nearby.  While we watched the sea lions we got a report two humpback whales...

Today was super misty as we motored out of the harbor. We couldn’t see very far ahead as the wooded islands, water, and clouds all melded into one. We headed south through Cattle Pass and out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We first encountered a small group of Harbor Porpoise off of Hein Bank (a shallow area  that is a great feeding area for so many of the marine mammals that inhabit our waters) The group of Harbor porpoises quickly passed us as the followed a small group of fish...

[6/17/17- M/V Kestrel- 2:00PM] It was a day to remember out on the Salish Sea! We departed Friday Harbor from San Juan Island on M/V Kestrel, a high-adventure zodiac-style boat. And holy smokes, within 15 minutes we were already upon some transient killer whales! Snuggled between San Juan Island and Lopez Island were the T65’s, a small family group that has been hanging around the San Juan Islands frequently. They were calmly traveling in a tight-knit group, breathing together in...

[06/16/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 02:00pm]

The whale watching has been great lately! We are entering what local naturalists are calling the “new normal.” The diversity of our ecosystem is shifting, and we are seeing that reflected most notably in our local orca populations. With a drop in our local salmon population we are seeing less and less of our Southern Resident killer whales in our inland waterways. Traditionally we expect to see members of J, K & L Pods from about May through...