Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/11/19 | 11:00am

Today was so fun!

We got incredibly lucky as Captain Gabe and I headed out of Friday Harbor and basically found a whale immediately!

We first spotted a bald eagle up in the trees near the harbor! We stopped to check him out and watch him perched up in a tree, scanning his surroundings for any fish!

Then, we joined our whale! We identified him as T65A2 swimming by himself up the east side of San Juan! And he was booking it. Swimming super fast...

Piper | Friday, August 9, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM

This afternoon Captain Gabe and I took a lovely group of guests out on the Kestrel for an epic trip down to Admiralty Inlet, at the very top of Puget Sound. We left the marina and headed south into San Juan Channel. This channel opens up to the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Cattle Pass, where a haul out of Steller’s sea lions and harbor seals were soaking up the sun.

We looked on as a giant bull pulled himself out of the icy waters...

Olivia | August 8th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

With a gorgeous day ahead of us, Captain Pete, Co-Naturalist Alexandria and I decided to head south down San Juan Channel towards some potential whale reports near Salmon Bank, while also staying on the look out for other possible whales and wildlife in the area. Along this route, we were seeing heaps of Harbor Porpoises popping up with those chocolate chip dorsal fins. Just as we breached the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we started...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/07/19 | 5:30pm

This sunset tour turned into one of my favorite tours yet!

It all started with Captain Pete, Naturalist Laura and I heading out of Friday Harbor. We couldn’t believe our luck! Immediately, we heard reports of orca whales literally swimming 15 minutes away from us!

We jaunted over to Jone’s Island and found the orcas right away! This amazing orca pod consists of T18 (grandma of the group and one of the oldest females in the region, estimated...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Erin | 1:30 PM | Thursday, August 1, 2019

What a fabulous trip aboard the M/V Sea Lion. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we decided to head towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca to see if we could find any whales feeding. We left out of Friday Harbor and right away we encountered some upwelling currents. The currents in the Salish Sea are fueled by the rise and fall of the tides, so they can be pretty intense. They help to bring food to the water's...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Today's trip was magical! We started our trip with no firm reports of whales, so we decided to head toward the Strait of Georgia and cover some different areas than other boats were covering. We were going for a whale search. We stopped by Flattop Island, which is an important wildlife refuge. Here we saw harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and swimming around in the water. At one point, one of them even jumped...

Piper | Sunday, August 4, 2019 | M/V Kittiwake | 11:00 AM

Today Captain Brian and I took some really awesome people out on the M/V Kittiwake to try to find some whales and wildlife! When we left the marina there were no whale sightings, so we decided to head south in San Juan Channel to do some searching of our own! On our way down the channel the radio came alive with a report of killer whales right where we were headed for the day!

We continued south and caught up with the orcas...

Piper | Saturday, August 3, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

On this beautiful Saturday afternoon in the San Juan Islands, Captain Gabe, naturalist Olivia, and I took a lovely group of people out to scan for whales and wildlife! We headed south into San Juan Channel after leaving the marina and just before we got to Cattle Pass we spotted a couple groups of harbor porpoises swimming around the boat!

We continued south of San Juan Island into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where we came upon...

Piper | Friday, August 2, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM

Heading out on our second tour for the day, Captain Gabe and I took some awesome people out into the Salish Sea! We left the marina in Friday Harbor and hung a left, up San Juan Channel and towards the north. We passed by a channel marker not too far from the harbor upon which sat a bald eagle! I’m certain he was using that post to scope out his next meal! We continued northeast through President Channel and up past Sucia Island...

Olivia | July 30th, 219 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

This afternoon we had a full boat of wonderful passengers. Captain Gabe, Co-Naturalist Laura, and I talked about how much we loved everyone we chatted with and had such a variety of backgrounds on board. We set out north through the San Juan Channel towards Boundary Pass. We were lucky enough to leave the dock today with a potential whale report that was north of Saturna and heading southeast towards Tumbo and East Point.

On our way to...