[06/12/17 ~ 1:00 Kestrel]

Even on my second season here at San Juan Safaris, there are still days where I'm simply in awe of the area that I'm surrounded by. The churning waters of the Salish Sea, punctuated by evergreen-capped islands, both hosting a unique and charactaristic array of wildlife that I always feel blessed to be graced by on a daily basis. Today was one of those days, with crystal-clear skies and water just choppy enough to keep us on our toes, and reports of whales...

So what if there were gale force wind warnings for this afternoon in Friday Harbor? Sea Lion wasn't going to be stopped! We're spoiled by the generally amazing weather and sea conditions here in the San Juan Islands, so even when there's gale force winds out here, it doesn't affect us too much. And, fortunately for us since we were leaving at noon, the wind wasn't supposed to pick up until later in the afternoon. So, with the sun above us and a light breeze behind us, we set off as...

If you are looking for a good day, look to visit Friday Harbor (literally- the harbor). On today’s trip, we encountered a humpback whale within 10 minutes of leaving the dock! We watched the whale fluke and dive on numerous occasions, but we soon departed in search of other wildlife for the remainder of the trip. There were more sights to be had on such a clear and beautiful day!

We cruised through the islands with the Olympic Mountain range, the Cascade Mountain range, and Mount...

It's finally arrived, our first official start-of-the-season sunset Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour! With the week preceding us featuring gray skies and chilly northwest temperatures, today provided us with a much-needed temperate evening to usher in the summer season here in the San Juans. Clear skies, glassy-calm waters, and the best visibility of all of our surrounding mountain ranges yet, all this perfect sunset tour needed was some spectacular wildlife.

We headed out of the dock...

It started oout as a beautiful, calm day in Friday Harbor with a boatload of excited guests. We jaunted to the west side of San Juan Island in search of 2 humpback whales. We entered the scene and alas! Two black humps of whales rose above the waterline under 15-foot exhalations. The water was smooth as glass, and each ripple from the whales could be seen around them. These whales were exceptional at showing us their flukes, with their undersides displaying individual characteristic...

The crew of the M/V Sea Lion was momentarily intimidated by the drenching drizzle and low visibility in Friday Harbor today.  But once introduced to our enthusiastic roster of guests, we couldn’t help but get pumped to point out wildlife and share our knowledge of the wondrous Salish Sea ecosystem. 

Our first stop was Green Point on Spieden Island.  Not one sea lion was hauled out here and I began to fear that we were losing our cast to the gravity of breeding grounds.  Then noses...

(April 16, 2017)  Today Captain Mike piloted our international crew out to the expansive waters southeast of San Juan Island where the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro and Rosario Straits, and the Puget Sound converge.  Often the area is characterized by violent seas and stiff wind, but today the waters were placid with barely a breath of wind.  The snow-capped Olympic Mountains towered above us; Mt. Baker and the twin sisters loomed large to the northeast, and the unreasonable mass of...

We had a wonderful early spring day out on the water. Gray skies and a little Pacific Northwest liquid sunshine never stop us from finding wildlife and having a great time. With nine hearty souls aboard the M/V Sea Lion left Friday harbor and headed North.

We spotted harbor porpoises on our way up towards Spieden Island, getting some looks at their well-camouflaged backs and dorsal fins in the small waves.  As we reached Green Point Captain Mike and I were delighted to find some...

On Sunday, Captain Mike, myself, and Hannah set out on yet another sunny adventurous day in the Salish Sea. It was a wee bit windy down south, so we headed north to search within and on the northern edge of our little archipelago here. We skimmed past Orcas Island and Waldron Island two of our taller islands and definitely the ones with enormous coniferous trees hanging on desperately onto the rocky cliffs that rise from the dark blue waters. We approached the Patos Island lighthouse...

What better way to start your weekend than with a confirmed sighting of orcas within the reach of a whale watch tour? Today we left the dock and headed north to the Canadian Gulf Islands to watch some transient killer whales that were reported swimming around that area.

We made a beeline for their last reported location, just off Saturna and the Pender Islands in British Columbia. We arrived on scene to a bunch of splashing, fins, and flukes – we were in the midst of watching...