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 Kestrel | 09/05/19 | 11:00am

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, random dogs were barking in the distance; it was looking like a great start to our whale watch!

Captain Gabe and I took our new friends out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel. We headed down south through the San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point.

Along the way we stopped to watch a big bait ball! Swarms of birds were pecking at the surface of the water and diving down to catch fish that were balled...

Jordan | July 14, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00

It was such a fantastic day out on the water today! Captain Gabe and I heard reports of Southern Resident whales down near Discovery Island in Canada so we headed south down through the San Juan Channel.

BUT before we even reached Cattle Point, we found two humpback whales! It was incredible. These huge whales dove majestically together heading south. In fact, just as we were about to leave, they synchronously dove and both their tails...

Orcas are so amazing - they have one of the most complex social structures of any mammal species out there. We get to see this in action on many days out here, and some days (like yesterday!) we get really lucky. We were able to see members of K and J-Pod spread out along the west side of San Juan Island, alternatively foraging, traveling, and playing with each other. The viewings of these beautiful animals kept getting more and more exciting from the moment we arrived on scene. One...

Let’s see…it’s Saturday on Labor Day weekend, which means the island is buzzing a little bit more than usual. Restaurants start to require reservations, ferries require a longer wait time, and we get to take more folks out on our boats! This buzz creates a wonderful atmosphere, since folks flock here to celebrate the end of summer and are in the mood to soak up the sun and enjoy themselves. And, as it turns out, it wasn’t just humans that wanted to congregate here this weekend! Some...

Another beautiful day in Friday Harbor, but we were excited to depart and hit the water to see what adventures we had in store for us today. The M/V Sea Lion pushed off the dock and turned south today, with reports of residents frolicking and foraging near the south side of the island. Although the sky looked a bit gloomy, the rain held off for us, and the sun even popped out to say "What's up!" a couple of times. 

This is one of my favorite routes to take on our tours, because you...

At long last, the mysterious K-pod has returned! It's heartwarming to see those familiar dorsal fins and saddle patches gracing our inland waters once more, because we really didn't see them at all at the start of our summer season. While L and J-Pod would meander through the Salish Sea, K-pod seemed to remain out in the open ocean, perhaps seeking salmon. Whatever the reason we didn't see them in June and July, we sure are happy that they are here now! M/V Kestrel had a wonderful...

Another beautiful summer day here in the San Juan Islands, not a cloud in the sky and we able to spy some amazing views of Mount Baker as well. Our 1:30pm departure left with reports of whales up north, traveling north, and we caught up to the group in Boundary Pass pretty much on the border of US and Canada. There was a large group of K pod traveling close together and some members of Jpod inshore foraging. We were able to get some great looks at the  J14s Slick, Mike, Alki, and...

We left Friday Harbor today and motored out towards Salmon Bank. The rain had quit for most of the duration of our trip and the sun was starting to shine through. As we went through Cattle Pass and by Whale Rocks we got some great looks at steller sea lions and harbor seals. They were foraging in the water as well as hauled out on the rocks giving us some great looks.

As we got out to Salmon Bank we soon came upon members of KPod. The whales were spread out for miles foraging for...

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