Erick | Monday, April 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

The Spring BLOOM has arrived! Noooo I don’t mean all the wildflowers blooming on all the prairies around the islands (well, they are blooming too). I’m talking about the phytoplankton and zooplankton! Every spring once daylight hours hit a certain threshold and there are enough nutrients floating around the phytoplankton re populate exponentially thereby feeding the zooplankton and eventually the whole ecosystem! Your can see...

Erick | Wednesday, April 10, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

This Wednesday brought us back to very on brand Pacific Northwest spring weather. Low-lying clouds scraped the canopy of the evergreen forests that cover the San Juan Islands intermittently dipping low enough to brush us with a light rain. Captain Brian and I took a smaller group out on M/V Sea Lion to look for a wonderful array of wildlife in the Salish Sea. As we left Friday Harbor, we turned north to travel up San Juan...

Erick | Tuesday, April 9, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

It was raining in the morning here, but by the time we were taking our lovely passengers out to go find some exciting wildlife the sun had come out on another glorious spring day. Captain Brian, Alexandria, and myself took this group aboard M/V Sea Lion north through San Juan Channel. We made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island to view the smorgasbord of pinnipeds hauled out there. On the sunbaked rocky shore there...

Erick | Monday, March 25, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

It felt a little bit more like normal springtime weather today. There was a heavy grey cloud cover that diffused all the sun light, but the good news is that the clouds were quite high up so you could still see far into the distance where Mt. Baker loomed on one side and the Olympic Mountains stretched west on the other. Captain Mike, Alex, and I took an excited group out to look for all the fun spring time wildlife in the...

Erick | Sunday, March 24, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

Listen to the Bigg's Orca Vocals we recorded this day here

Yet another day of beautiful sunny weather today. Captain Mike and I took a pretty large group of folks out on M/V Sea Lin to look for some marine wildlife in the San Juan Islands. We left Friday Harbor and headed north towards the northern edge of the islands. We made our first stop at Flattop Island. This whole island is a nature preserve and it is a perfect spot to...

Erick | Tuesday, March 19, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

Today. We took a wonderful group of folks out on a pretty warm sunny very springtime day. Captain Pete, myself, and Alex motored south to look at Griffin Bay and saw some Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks soaking up the sun as much as we were. We did not see any whales so we turned and headed north. Right around Turn Rock we saw a Steller Sea Lion that had grabbed a Giant Pacific Octopus! He was tearing into it and swallowing...

Erick | Monday, March 18, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 12:00 

Spring is here! On this warm and sunny day Captain Brian and I took a great small group out on Kestrel to see what wildlife was out enjoying the sunshine too. We headed out of Friday Harbor and almost saw blows immediately! They were right off the shore of Brown Island. We approached this group of whales and soon saw that they were Bigg’s Orcas. Orcas aka Killer Whales are divided into different ‘ecotypes’. These ecotypes are...

Erick | Friday, March 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

On Friday, it was another beautiful sunny day that reminded us that spring is just around the corner for us! Captain Mike and I headed out with a great group up north to go see what we could find! We headed through San Juan Channel, then to Spring Pass, and through Presidents Channel. In Presidents Channel we got to see a lot of Harbor Porpoise. I sometimes call this area Porpoise alley. Harbor Porpoises are definitely our...

Erick | Thursday, March 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

This Thursday still felt a little bit like winter. It was quite chilly with a grey sky above. Captain Mike and I headed north to go check out a report of Orcas up in Boundary Pass. We traveled through San Juan Channel and headed past Spieden and Stewart Islands into Boundary Pass. Right in Between Gooch Island and Moresby Island we saw some blows up ahead! It was not just one but two families of Orcas. Both of these families...

Erick | Wednesday, March 13, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion| | 12:00 

This Wednesday was one of the first days it really has felt like spring here in the islands. The sun was out and there was only a slight breeze in the air. Captain Pete and I took a good-sized crew out to go see what wonderful wildlife was also out enjoying the sunshine. We headed south after we left Friday Harbor. We rounded Turn Island and just as we made our way into Griffin Bay we saw some blows just ahead in San Juan...