Erick | M/V Kestrel | July 10, 2020 | 2:00pm

Wohoo! Another beautiful day out in the San Juans! It felt a little bit like summer out there in the Salish Sea but there was still a cool breeze coming from the south. Capt. Brian and I took an excited group out on M/V Kestrel to go find some wildlife! We first headed east and soon saw a blow out near Lopez Island! As we got closer, we saw that it was Humpback Whale headed south! We watched this giant whale swim quickly towards Cattle...

It rained again today… That’s okay though even though it feels like our summer here sometimes is constantly loading, the rain means that there is plenty of water for the salmon, and snow that falls high up in the mountains will last longer as reserves for the rivers that run through the northwest. And anyway, the rain must end sometime! Today it cleared up around noon right in time for our 1:30PM Whale watch trip aboard M/V Sea Lion! Capt. Pete was driving, and we took a great group...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 8th, 2020 | 13:30

The most fin-tastic trip yet! It was such a great day out on the water, I am still shaking with excitement! We headed towards the western side of Cypress Island to follow rumors of Bigg’s Killer Whales milling in the area. When we arrived on scene, sure enough, there were TWO families of transient orcas swimming around together, comprising of around 11 individuals! These were the T36’s and T37’s, happily reuniting for the day. They were...

Laura | M/V Kestrel | 7/5/2020 | 2:00 PM

The Adventure Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour on M/V Kestrel was OUTSTANDING!  I am so excited to report that we found Bigg’s killer whales just minutes from Friday Harbor, traveling southbound from Spieden Island in San Juan Channel!  They turned out to be one of my favorite family groups, the T65As!  This family consists of 5 members, and T65A2 is a large male who is quite distinguishable in size from his younger siblings!  We had awesome...

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 3/10/2020 | 12:00pm

Today was such a fun day to be out on the water!  M/V Sea Lion left the dock of Friday Harbor and headed north.  Moments after we left the dock a large common loon came right by our boat and surprised all the passengers!  He was sporting some gorgeous spring breeding plumage and this sighting was the closest I have ever been to a loon!

We continued through the San Juan Channel and stopped at Flattop Island to watch a juvenile bald eagle take...

Olivia | September 30th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today was SO magical! We left Friday Harbor heading north through the San Juan Channel and cutting through Spieden Channel in order to end up near Henry Island. All along the way we saw swimming Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoises! However, what really took our breath away was seeing a big male Southern Resident Killer Whale! It was beautiful right in the sunshine! I may use an excessive amount of exclamation points in this blog...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 8/31/2019 | 1:30 pm

Today was a marvelous day aboard M/V Sea Lion!  With several reports of whales in the area, we headed northbound through San Juan Channel full of excitement and anticipation of our upcoming wildlife sightings!  As we rounded San Juan Island into the Haro straight we found harbor porpoises cruising through the area in search of some fish!  These animals prefer areas with strong upwelling and current changes providing more prey availability...

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 Sea Lion | 07/06/19 | 1:30pm

Today, was a very special day for the Salish Sea! Why you ask? Because the Southern Resident Orcas are back!! For the first time in weeks J, K and L pods have been spotted in the San Juan Islands! This literally made national news! So, we were incredibly lucky to be able to boat out and see these amazing, special and famous whales!

Captain Erick, Naturalist Piper and I set out of Friday Harbor towards reports of whales! We headed up through...

Erick | Sunday, April 21, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

Happy Easter everyone! Today we had a fantastic trip. Captain Pete, Ryder, and I headed out with a full boat on a beautiful sunny day! He headed north through San Juan Channel and then through President Channel following up on a report of orcas near Sucia and Matia Islands just north of Orcas Island. Once we got nearer to Sucia and Patos Islands we started to see the blows! We soon identified them as part of J pod! J pod, probably...