It was yet another beautiful day in the San Juan's as the M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor and headed North. The killer whales we had heard rumor of up in Canada had begun to travel in our direction and were supposed to meet up with us within the hour! Excitement ran high from guests and crew alike, when we finally got on scene we all witnessed some awesome behavior!

I was just explaining to guests that we were watching Biggs killer whales, better known as transients. These are...

We left Friday harbor today with a report of the same Transients we found the night before traveling slowly up the San Juan channel! I always love days like this because it means after looking at the whales, we can show the guests all of the other amazing wildlife the San Juan islands have to offer. I couldn't wait to tell everyone that not only were we going to see Transient killer whales, but they were within five minutes of our dock!

When we got on seen with the killer whales, we...

Our first evening charter of the season headed out tonight into the rough waters of Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We had a possible report of Biggs killer whales heading in from the Pacific Ocean, a roughly 80 mile trek. The whales were last sighted near Victoria, Canada; with a crew that was willing to brave the elements to see killer whales, we went for it! A little rain, wind, and choppy water wasn’t going to stop us from giving people an experience of a lifetime...

After leaving our Friday Harbor location today and traveling the waters of the Salish Sea for the majority of our tour, captain Mike and I decided to head in the direction of San Juan Island. Guests aboard the M/V Sea Lion saw harbor porpoise, steller sea lions, harbor seals, and a wide variety of sea birds. Still, we had yet to find any orcas. That was until we received a call over the radio while we were passing the southwest side of Waldron Island. The radio call notified us of a...

Like many days in early spring when killer whales have no set pattern of occurrence, we left our Friday Harbor location without a confirmation of killer whales. However, when we got a possible report of transients headed through Active Pass, we decided to go check it out and see what we could see. As we entered the Strait of Georgia, our small groups of guests aboard the M/V Sea Lion got a nice surprise as we began to see dorsal fins emerge in the distance. As we got closer, I...

We left our Friday Harbor location today and headed north with hopes of intercepting some killer whales that we had heard were traveling through the area. The weather definitely wasn’t cooperating- it was cold, windy, and rainy! However, a little weather never stops us when killer whales are involved! Guests soon settled in the heated cabin as we headed into the Canadian Gulf Islands. When we got on seen with the whales, what we ended up witnessing was something we never would have...

The M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor yesterday in search of the killer whales that inhabit the Salish Sea. When we got underway Captain Mike got a report of Biggs Killer Whales, or Transients, off the Southeast side of Galiano Island. Even though that was far into the Strait of Georgia, and into the Canadian Gulf Island of British Columbia, we decided to go for it! With the bow of our boat pointed north, guests enjoyed a beautifully scenic route into Canada where we spotted about...

What a great start to the 2014 whale watching season! The M/V Sea Lion headed out again today and caught up with some Transients (mammal-hunting killer whales) once again. Today was however, a little different than most days given we went about seventy miles round trip! The whales were located about fifteen miles west of Victoria, BC and Captain Mike and I decided to go for it.

After about an hour and a half we caught up with the T065A group of whales. There were two females whales...

What an amazing trip we had today! We left our dock today in Friday Harbor without any whale reports once again, so Captain Mike and I decided we were going to head north to see what we could find in that region. We were looking for transient killer whales; this kind of killer whale hunts marine mammals. There is ample food for them north of San Juan Island including harbor seals, harbor porpoise, Steller Sea Lions (the largest in the world), and even Dall's Porpoise! What we found...

We left our Friday Harbor location Sunday with strong winds, a little bit of rain, and choppy water. Still, our spirits were high in hopes of finding killer whales in the Salish Sea even though we didn't have a confirmed killer whale sighting that day. We headed north in search of Transient killer whales, or mammal-hunting killer whales. We came across many harbor seals, harbor porpoise and even some steller sea lions. These are all great food sources for transients. However, when...