Naturalist Erick | Sunday, October 13, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | Noon

We couldn’t ask for better fall weather today when Capt. Pete and I took a full group out to go search for wildlife in the Salish Sea.  We started out by heading east through Upright Channel and through the small passage between Obstruction Island and Blakely Island called Peavine Pass. We had heard earlier of reports of some orcas in Rosario Strait and were looking for them. There they were heading north towards...

Naturalist Erick | Saturday, October 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | Noon

Saturday started in a pretty typical Pacific Northwest way. Rain and low hanging clouds fell and scraped the tops of the evergreen hills of the San Juan Islands. As Capt. Pete and I got ready to take a full boat out to search for the exciting wildlife of the Salish Sea blue skies started to appear and the sun came out! We motored north through San Juan Channel and started our journey at White Rock. Here we saw a...

M/V Kestrel | Sunday, September 8, 2019 | Naturalist Erick | 11:00AM

Sunday morning started out feeling super fall with a slight breeze out of the south. Captain Gabe and I headed out a long with a few other boats to go search for fun wildlife in the crisp and sometimes foggy morning. I personally love mornings like this. Most folks visit the islands in the summer when it is always summer with days that feel like they last forever but never get too hot. As we move into fall, we get...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/21/19 | 11:00am

What a really great day out on the water!

Captain Gabe and I headed south through the San Juan Channel and headed towards a beautiful lighthouse off the southern tip of San Juan: Cattle Point lighthouse.

Nearby, we stopped at Whale Rocks and watched tons of Steller sea lions! They wandered around the rocks, barked at each other and splashed in the water! It looked like they were really enjoying the beautiful sunny day!

Then, we boated out...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/20/19 | 12:00pm

What a lovely day in the San Juan Island!

Captain Sarah, Naturalist Piper and I headed out of Friday Harbor and up north through the San Juan Channel and towards the Canadian border.

We boated up President’s Channel and saw our first blow! It was a humpback whale! This huge animal swam in circles as it fed upon its tiny prey hidden in the murky depths of the Salish Sea. We followed as the whale showed us its 15-foot wide tail! What a...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/19/19 | 11:00am

What an incredible day!

Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out into the foggy depths of the San Juan channel and up towards the north. We could hardly see the outline of Spedien Island as we approached!

We boated near the island and found hundreds of exotic animals! I’ve literally never seen so many mouflon sheep, sika deer and fallow deer all grazing together in huge herds! There were groups of huge male sika deer with antlers wandering...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/18/19 | 12:00pm

What a crazy epic day today!

Captain Gabe, Naturalist Piper and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel. We heard reports from deep within Canadian territory, so we headed that direction. Boating above Stuart Island and crossing Boundary Pass, we crossed the border. We continued up toward Georgeson Pass, intertwining between gorgeous islands, admiring the birds flying by.

As we emerged into open...

What an adventurous tour today!

Captain Gabe, Naturalist Laura and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed down south through the San Juan Channel. It was clear skies until we reached the southern tip of San Juan, catching a glimpse of the Cattle Point lighthouse before running straight into a wall of fog.

This fog bank was really thick as we entered the open body of water. So, I could only allude to the Olympic mountains hiding behind the clouds. We travelled southwest as we boated...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/14/19 | 12:00pm

Today was unlike any day I’ve had in the San Juan’s!

Captain Pete, Naturalist Olivia and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed down south through the San Juan Channel on the lookout for any wildlife.

We reached the southern point of San Juan and admired the beautiful Cattle Point lighthouse.

Continuing out into open waters, we found a humpback whale! As we approached, the humpback slapped its tail against the surface of the water...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/12/19 | 11:00am

Today was sure an adventurous day!

Captain Pete and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed south down through the San Juan Channel. Once we reached the southern tip of San Juan, we spotted Cattle Point lighthouse as we neared a rock full of wildlife!

We found Steller sea lions! These 12-foot long 2,400 pound animals barked and crawled around the island as they looked for the best rock to nap on. Some of them splashed in the water...