Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Saturday, August 31, 2019

Today was an absolutely phenomenal day full of breaching and surface-active behaviors! We headed south out of Friday Harbor with the sun shining and the water calm. We made our way down to Cattle Point. At Cattle Point, we saw some upwelling happening around us. It was incredible! We then went over to Whale Rocks, which had Steller sea lions hauled out on them and swimming around them! They are massive animals, weighing up to...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30PM | Sunday, August 25, 2019

What a lovely afternoon in the Salish Sea! We left the harbor with the knowledge that there was a pod of Bigg's killer whales fairly closeby to us! We headed in their general direction, searching for other wildlife along the way! We went to the southern shoreline of Spieden Island, and we almost immediately saw some wildlife! We first spotted some mouflon sheep, which are a non-native animal to the island. They were brought to...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/25/19 | 11:00am

We saw so much wildlife today!

Captain Gabe and I boated out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel and headed south down through the San Juan Channel.

We stopped by huge rocks sitting in the middle of the channel and found Steller sea lions! These massive bouldering creatures crawled around the island, finding places to collapse for a nap.  Others swam in the water, diving between stalks of a bull kelp forest! Really amazing to see the huge animals...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM | Saturday, August 24, 2019

It was such a lovely evening on the M/V Sea Lion. The sun was shining when we left the harbor, and the water was flat. We were in for a nice sunset! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and travelled for about 10 minutes until we came across a pod of killer whales! They were travelling along the shoreline of Jones Island, and they were giving the whale watchers on shore a real show! At first they were just swimming along the...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, August 24, 2019 | 1:30PM 

It was one of the best whale watching trips of the season today! We began our trip with a multitude of reports of killer whales in our area. We were all so excited that there were so many around. We decided to first head toward Boundary Pass, which is north of Friday Harbor. We left out of the harbor and got into San Juan Channel. We passed Jones Island and found ourselves right by Flattop Island, looking at blows and dorsal...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/23/19 | 11:00am

 Today was extraordinary!

It was a little touch and go there at the start as we began our tour in the pouring rain. But, everyone really seemed determined to have a very adventurous time despite the wetness! What troopers!

Eventually, the skies lightened, and we were able to dry a bit as we sped down south through the San Juan Channel. Here we stopped to watch roosting cormorants with Cattle Point lighthouse standing beautifully in the...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/19/19 | 1:30pm

Wow! We saw so much wildlife today! Hope everyone knew how lucky we were to see all that we did!

As soon as Captain Pete, Naturalist Piper and I left Friday Harbor, we boated about 5 minutes north and found orca whales immediately! Amazing! Typically, we travel far and wide to see the whales!

These transient (Bigg’s) killer whales were travelling around San Juan Channel but erratically changing directions every few minutes! They really kept...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Friday, August 16, 2019 | 11:00 AM 

It was an incredible trip this afternoon out of Friday Harbor. As soon as we left the harbor, we saw a bald eagle flying towards the treeline. It was awesome to see its 6 foot wingpsan! We saw it land in one of the trees at the very top, and then we continued on our way toward a report of some Bigg's killer whales. The whales were closeby to where we were, so we spent some time searching for other wildlife on the way. We went...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Thursday, August 15, 2019 | 5:30 PM

This evening was the greatest trip of all time. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We went through some upwelling zones near Cattle Point lighthouse, which were bringing food to the water's surface and causing birds to gather around us. Cattle Point lighthouse marks the southernmost point of San Juan Island, and it is a gorgeous beacon. We entered into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and headed toward False Bay...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/13/19 |

Todays trips were amazing!

It all started as Gabe and I headed south down through the San Juan Channel. We boated towards Cattle Pass and saw the beautiful lighthouse off the southern tip of San Juan.

We then stopped by Whale Rocks and watched a bunch of sea lions! These massive animals lumbered around the island and barked at each other! It was so cool to watch them walking around and sleeping in the sun. So glad that these Steller sea lions are...