A trifecta of whales today for the 'ol M/V Sea Lion. Guests that stuck with us through the rain and the spray from the waves were rewarded with incredible views of not just our resident orcas, but also TWO humpbacks, AND a minke whale! Oh and did I forget to mention the 7-10 Dahl's porpoise that decided to ride the wake of our boat for up to 15 minutes? Yes, that also happened! It was a great day on the water and the wildlife was out in droves. Never a dull moment for the M/V Sea...

Today Captain Mike, Caitlin and I had a very eventful day on the water. Though we left with no reports of orcas, we felt hopeful that some might turn up around the islands. We first stopped to see some Northern sea lions just south of San Juan, before catching up with a pod of right around 100 Pacific white-sided dolphins! We enjoyed their antics as they surfed in the M/V Sea Lion's wake and bow rode at the front of the vessel. It is always fun to see these very athletic visitors to...

Today Captain Mike, Naturalist Caitlin and I had a trip that we all agreed was the highlight of our season. We left Friday Harbor at 12:00pm and immediately stumbled across some harbor seals hauled out on some rocks. The seals need to lay in the sun to warm up as they have a very minimal layer of insulating fat known as blubber. With another stop to check out some nesting double-crested cormorants and some gulls, we headed out to find a minke whale on a glassy Haro Strait. We caught...

Yesterday we left Friday Harbor with the reports of whales around Salmon Bank.  We headed South through San Juan Channel and found a harbor seal haul out on the way down.  We then continued down through cattle pass and found the whale around Salmon bank.  There were families from J, K and L pods!  We initially saw the K13's, which includes K13 (Skagit) and all her descendants making a total of 7 whales in the family.  We then got to see a resting group of whales from Jpod which...

Yet another beautiful late summer day with the Southern Residents! We had a spectacular afternoon full of breaching, tail lobbing and porpoising.... generally very happy orcas! Today we enjoyed the company of a couple of different L-pod families. We spent the most time with the L54s (L54 "Ino" and her calves L108 "Coho" & L117 "Keta") who were joined by some of my favorite males: L92 "Crewser", L88 "Wave Walker", and L84 "Nyssa". Wave Walker and Nyssa are the last remaining members...

Saturday September 6th was a great day on the water. M/V Sea lion, captain, crew, and guests enjoyed the sunny weather and calm seas on the south west side of San Juan Island today. The resident (salmon-eating) orcas seem to still be finding food here in the Salish Sea and were back in full force. We had reports of all three pods in the area (J, K, and L)! We spent most of our afternoon with what seemed to be a mixture of K and L pods, with some close looks at K21 and L44 both mature...

Today we left Friday Harbor with reports of transient orcas North of Waldron Island.  Transient orcas are the mammal eating types of orcas that feed primarily or harbor seals in our area.  We met up with the whale in the Strait of Georgia where we saw the whole family traveling together in a tight group.  Specifically the whale were the T65A's which consist of T65A and her four offspring, the youngest being born this past March.  The family was moving North up the Strait of Georgia...

AMAZING DAY ON THE WATER! We had rain, we had thunder, and most importantly we had a whole bunch of whales! It was a true Pacific Northwest day with lots and lots of whales. We met up with all of K pod and some members of J Pod. It was an amazing opportunity to see these whales moving together along the westside, but also to be surrounded by mother nature at its finest. Thunder rolling in the background, with whale blows in the distance, all in all it was an excellent day to be out...

The most noticeable of our transients, Mr. Floppy Fin, T-19B, was in the area with four of his compadres. These five whales appeared to be on the hunt for their most beloved found source, harbor seals. However, when a lone harbor seal surfaced close to the boat with no care in the world it was apparent that these Transients had other things on their mind- most likely sleep. These whales can travel up to 100 miles a day and are constantly themoregulating in these frigid 48 degree...

M/V Kittiwake got to spend the afternoon up close and personal with the J22s also known as the cookie clan. The matriarch J22 Oreo and her two offspring Double Stuff and Cookie, and adopted niece Rhapsody. Rhapsody was orphaned by her mother when she was just two years old and was left in the care of her grandmother, then her grandmother passed so Auntie Oreo took over and raised Rhapsody and Double stuff at the same time. Just a short story about the depth of the social connections...