With little rays of sunshine the M/V Sea Lion departed from Friday Harbor once again and headed north in search of whales. On our way, we caught some good glimpses of steller sea lions and harbor porpoise! The stellers always do a good job of impressing everyone on board with their large bodies and large teeth that they readily show off while growling! We also saw plenty of their distant relatives, the harbor seal, which is about 1,800 lbs lighter than the stellers!

When we didn't...

When the M/V Sea Lion departed from the docks today it was down-pouring rain. We all stayed inside the cabin, where the heat was on to keep us warm while we weathered the storm. That however, didn't last long as we soon came upon a group of playful harbor porpoise to look at! They were all around our boat and were foraging in the San Juan Channel. And, as we continued on, we were able to see about forty steller sea lions! It was great, these guys are about 2,000 pounds of sheer fat...

Today was one of those days that only happens once in a season- sunny September skies, flat calm ocean water, wildlife everywhere, great guests... oh, and did I mention orca whales that seemed to be breaching out of the water every thirty seconds?!

Let's start at the beginning! Today the M/V Sea Lion left Friday Harbor and headed north into Canadian waters once again. Today however, we were in search of the mammal hunting orcas known as transients, or Biggs Killer Whales. We really...

Today was a beautiful day all around with sunny sky's, nice people, L-Pod, and lot's of wildlife! The M/V Sea Lion headed North today towards Turn Point (the most Northwestern part of the continental U.S.) where we had reports of some Southern Resident Orcas. I couldn't contain my delight when I told guests we had reports of these Orcas especially since it is rather late in September and they are still around!

On our way out we say some steller sea lions surfaced right in front of...

On  this unusually sunny afternoon (for fall at least), M/V Sea Lion left San Juan Island and prepared to go the distance. We were on our way to Victoria, BC where there were reports of some whales! On our way out we came across some dalls porpoise in the San Juan Channel. The dalls were playing in our wake then, as quickly as they surfaced, disappeared. It was a nice surprise, and we also got to spend some time with steller sea lions!

When we got on seen in the Straight of Juan de...

We left Friday Harbor today and motored out towards Salmon Bank. The rain had quit for most of the duration of our trip and the sun was starting to shine through. As we went through Cattle Pass and by Whale Rocks we got some great looks at steller sea lions and harbor seals. They were foraging in the water as well as hauled out on the rocks giving us some great looks.

As we got out to Salmon Bank we soon came upon members of KPod. The whales were spread out for miles foraging for...

The M/V Sea Lion went North today in hot pursuit of a Transient Orca. What's funny is that we started out heading south, but as Captain Mike pulled a U-Turn in the San Juan Channel we knew something was up! He informed us that there was a report of T-21 heading north in Canada and we were in reach of seeing her! A lot of times, we head out with no Orca reports then change our course throughout the trip because Transient- mammal hunting Orcas- popped up!

As we headed into Canada...

Today the M/V Sea Lion left Friday Harbor with good reports of black and whites on the west side of San Juan Island. As a naturalist, I always like it when there is a high probability of seeing not only whales, but more specifically, Orcas. It was also naturalist, Andrew', last time on the water for the season. So, with hopes set high by myself and the guests on board we headed out towards Salmon Bank where the whales were reported to be foraging. Our hopes would be met throughout...

Today we headed south out the San Juan Channel, into Cattle Pass and out to Salmon Bank. It was sunny and beautiful for fall! Along the way we had some great looks at harbor porpoise, harbor seals and even some steller sea lions. The marine mammals were all foraging in the strong tidal currants that stirred the fish making it easier for them to catch them! When we got out to Salmon Bank we came across a mike whale. We spent a while with this guy who was taking us in every which...

M/V Kittiwake departed with positive reports of Resident Orcas! Our 13 guests and myself were very excited due to the fact they have been gone for a few days. Captain Mike headed straight to the Orcas that were heading north in Boundary Pass. Once we got on scene we could see all the blows and lots of splashing, right away I knew we had a playful group. We were right in the middle of Boundary Pass when the Orcas decided to split. At that moment we had a large adult male surface near...