We had a fun filled day out on the Sea Lion this afternoon!  We left the dock and headed to the south side of San Juan Island by way of Haro Strait.   We got to the whales on the South West side on San Juan Island.  We traveled alongside J27, J31, and J39 (Blackberry, Tsuchi, and Mako).  All three of these orcas are siblings.  My youngest of the three, Mako, was being very playful and breaching continuously while we watched them.  He made fora great whale watching trip.   After...

As we left San Juan Island yesterday, everyone couldn’t help but comment on what a phenomenal day it was.  Sunny skies, no wind, and flat calm glassy waters- oh, and the 40 or so killer whales that were in the area helped a little too! As Captain Mike, Chelsea and I motored out into the San Juan Channel, we made our way up to the north end of the Island where we met up with J and L Pod. For those of you who are just tuning in, J and L Pod are made up of Southern Resident Orcas, a...

Well, well, well, we have whales again! It's been a great summer with lots of whales and today was no different. Unlike the past few days, the whales decided to take a jaunt up north towards Active Pass in Canadian waters. This was quite alright with Captain Mike, Naturalist Heather, passengers aboard M/V Sea Lion, and myself, since we are always a fan of crossing over into the friendly waters of our Canadian Neighbors. Aside from the occasional warnings that pop up on your cellphone...

Whales, what a lovely sight indeed. A group of L Pod whales spy hopping and tail slapping? Even cooler! The summer solstice proved to be a great day for whale watching, which is perfect since there is never enough light in the day to watch all the amazing things these whales are capable of. Captain Mike, Naturalist Heather, and our passengers aboard M/V Sea Lion made a bee line from Friday Harbor out to the westside of the island in search of our resident whales. Low and behold we...

Today was an outstanding day on the water! The weather was gorgeous and warm and the water was flat calm. Spent the afternoon trip with some transients near Battleship island and a small part of J pod the J17s hanging out near turn point on Stuart island. Had many opportunities to see the whales in all their glory, with a number of breaches and spy hops, but this was just the first trip of the day.

I don't know if it was the summer solstice or what but we had an amazing evening and...

We had such a wonderful day on the Salish Sea. We left Friday Harbor with a couple of very promising reports of orcas for our afternoon trip. We ended up on the west side of San Juan Island with a beautiful group of transients. They were going down on longer dives, leaving us guessing as to where they would resurface. We got a number of great looks at the orcas, which left Captain Mike and me anxious to get back on the water for our evening trip!

After a quick turn around in Friday...

This morning we woke up to the news that both J and L pods were inbound. We haven't seen much of the Ls yet this season so it was awesome to finally see them! On our afternoon trip we spent the majority of our time with the engine off  surrounded by whales. Everywhere you looked the were orcas playing, tail lobbing, spy hopping, and breaching. Both guests and crew were left speechless by the display.

With such a great afternoon we were eager to get back on the water for our evening...

After being in the rain for the past two trips Captain Mike, Sarah and I left the dock today with sunny skies over head. But, what was even better then the sunshine were the orcas that were reported to be right in our "back yard". After motoring for about ten minutes  we saw blows in the distance in-between Lopez and Shaw island, a sight that was welcomed by our guests. I quickly identified the small group as our five transient orcas known as the T065A group. The T065A's just happen...

Rained on and off throughout the day, but opened up to clear skies for our 2pm charter today. All passengers aboard the M/V Kittiwake were in full support of some sunshine and whales! Captain Jim is not one to disappoint, and with reports of resident orcas along the west side of San Juan Island, the whales were also in on making it a great day on the water! We made great time on our original San Juan Safaris vessel, the M/V Kittiwake, and made it just in time to see some of J pod...

With our first departure at noon, Captain Mike, Naturalist Rachel, and myself left the dock with no reports of any whales. With rainy and foggy weather we headed north toward Flat Top Island. Our guests were able to see Harbor Seals and Pigeon Guillemots.  Pigeon Guillemots are part of the Puffin family and are diving sea birds. They can dive over 100 feet deep. We motored to the Cactus Islands and Spieden Island seeing Bald Eagles and juvenile Bald Eagles. Guest were also able to...