Elle | M/V Sea Lion | 8/19/2022 | 2:00PM

Today we traveled from Friday Harbor, WA to Victoria, BC and back again in search of wildlife. First we encountered Steller's sea lions at Whale Rocks, one of their favorite spots to stop and hang out as they migrate to Alaska for the summer. We were lucky this group decided to stay for a few extra months! We continued southwest until we saw blows in the distance. These turned out to be a young family of Bigg's killer whales. The mother of...

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 | 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...

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 Kestrel | 06/09/19 | 11:00

As we got everyone suited up, excitement filled the air. Eventually everyone headed down and met with Captain Gabe by the Kestrel and we headed out of Friday Harbor. We heard reports coming from Canadian waters so we sped down the San Juan Channel and towards Cattle Pass.

Here we stopped by a huge rock jutting out of the water where we spotted some Steller sealions! These 12 foot long and 2400 pound animals lumbered around and barked at each...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/06/19 | 11:00am

As the sun shone bright overhead and the Salish sea beckoned us to join her, Captain Brian, Naturalist Sarah and I set out towards promising reports of humpback whales up north. But then, almost immediately, we got a brand new report of orca whales off in the Rosario Strait!

Filled with excitement, we headed south down through the San Juan Channel. As we neared Cattle Pass off the southern point of San Juan, we spotted a crazy battle in the...

Today on our trip onboard M/V Sea Lion we were treated to some great looks at some Dall Porpoise off Cattle Point.  We had just hung out and checked out some very fun Steller Sea Lions that were hauled out at Whale Rocks, when we were greeted by some enthusiastic Dall’s Porpoise. 

The cool thing about Dall’s Porpoise is that they are very friendly and fun animals!  You could tell they were swimming up to our boat...

[Sarah |11/10/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm]

We had a wonderful day out on the water enjoying mild November weather and great wildlife. Starting out the day we had some reports of whales far to the west, but as we left the harbor our plans changed with a report of whales far closer to home. Leaving Friday Harbor Captain Brian got a call from another boat that drastically altered our plans.

Instead of heading south and west, Captain Brian steered the M/V Sea Lion inter-island...

Jordan | August 11, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

This afternoon trip was incredibly lovely as the bright blue skies mingled with beautiful wispy clouds. Captain Mike and I jumped on the Kestrel and booked it north through the San Juan Channel in our speedy vessel.

We went around the north side of Spieden Island and checked out a beautiful bald eagle perching perfectly in a tree! At three feet tall and seven pounds, this massive bird surveyed the land and the sea for any food as we...

Jordan | June 20, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 sunset

Captain Pete, Alexandria and I journeyed out of Friday Harbor for the 5:30 sunset tour on our quest to find the whales! The M/V Sea Lion headed north up the San Juan Channel, through the Spieden Channel to the West coast of Henry Island.

Here we found a group of Southern Resident orca whales! In fact, J pod was having a wonderful time scanning the shoreline for their salmon. We watched the whales jump and spy hop and slap the water...