Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | 9/20/2022 | 1:30 PM 

The boys are back… The boys are back… Bigg’s killer whales Onca and Lynx were back at it again, popping up on the westside of San Juan Island unannounced for the second time this week. Similar to our tour yesterday, we started our trip without any firm whale reports and planned to head south to scan for whales in Salmon Bank.  

Our 1:30 pm Classic Tour took a right out of Friday Harbor and headed down San Juan Channel. On our way down...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/16/2021 | 2:00pm

    We had a full boat today as we set out of Friday Harbor, heading northbound gourds murmurings of orca on the west side of the island. Almost immediately as we turned left into the San Juan Channel we spotted a Bald Eagle, perched atop a tree on our left. From where we sat just above the water, the eagle seemed small though we know in reality that this was a massive bird. Mature bald eagles can reach over three feet tall when sanding...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 7, 2020 | 13:30

What a special day on the water with Captain Sarah and all our guests. We were able to leave the dock with rumors of Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island, which is always extra heart racing. The reason this particular trip felt special, was because these were not just any orcas; they happen to be J Pod of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. This critically endangered ecotype of orca was labeled the name ‘resident’ by their history of...

October 5- M/V Sea Lion- 12 PM

Today we left Friday Harbor with the report of orcas just off the South West side of San Juan Island.  We cruised around the area and found some harbor seals and Steller’s sea lions.  we then continued around the island and found the whales just off shore from Lime Kiln lighthouse.  We watched as the two transient families spread out looking for food.  We got to spend a lot of time with the whales and then decided to circumnavigate San Juan Island.

Our...

Jordan | July 18, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 trip

Today was a lovely day! Even though the day started out with a gray, cloud covered sky with a brisk breeze in the air, by mid-trip, the clouds parted and blue skies lit up our morning.

Captain Gabe and I heard of whales on the west side of San Juan! So, excited to start the day, we booked it out of Friday Harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. We passed by southern point of San Juan, Cattle Point, and headed up the west...

Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin and myself were lucky enough to show our 1:30 guests and our 5:30 guests a playful K-pod! We departed from Friday Harbor and headed south for both trips to meet with the orcas on the west side of San Juan Island.
Our 1:30 guests were able to see our K-pod members just off of Lime Kiln State Park. We saw several of them breaching and porpoising throughout the water. We had one large male, Lobo, follow us and guests got a great view of the 20 year old...

Today the Sea Lion departed at 1:30 with Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin, and myself. We traveled south to Cattle Point and along the way we encountered some friendly Harbor Seals. We spotted a group of ten of them with there heads peaking out of the water on our port side. Then we also spotted a group of six curious seals looking at our boat, on our starboard side. Traveling onward to the west side of San Juan we first spotted Orcas just south of Lime Kiln Lighthouse. We got a...

3:00 PM: 20+ Southern Residents spread out in Haro Strait from False Bay to Lime Kiln State Park (48°27.57N 123°04.48W). Members of J and K pod including Grandma Samish (J14), Mother Hy’Shqa (J37) newborn J49, Deadhead (K27) and brother Scoter (K25). Widely spread, yet exceedingly active; breaching, spyhopping, lobtaillng and porpoising in every which direction.

Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris

Yup, just WOW. 

Today was one of those “monumental” kind of days. Both boats, the Sea Lion and the Kittiwake, got THE MOST amazing views of our Southern Resident Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island between Lime Kiln and Hannah Heights (48°28.36N, 123°05.02W).

The first whale we spotted was Blackberry (J27). He was initially foraging, but after a few moments he grew extremely friendly and curious of the Kittiwake. He swam parallel to the boat stunning our guests with...

Great whale watching out in Haro Strait today! Whales were spread out between Stewart Island and Lime Kiln State Park. We caught up with our first pair, mama and calf, just off Henry Island, near Kellet Bluff (48°34.60N, 123°12.03W). They were moving extremely fast, almost to be confused with porpoise, looking as if they were trying to catch up with the rest of the pack on the western side of San Juan.

After traveling with them for a bit, another female appeared out of nowhere...