Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/30/19 | 11:00am

Today, Pete and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor up towards the north, just scanning around all the different islands to find some wildlife.

As we boated up through the San Juan Channel, we stopped by White Rocks to view some harbor seals! These chunky, floppy animals basked in the sunlight and enjoyed napping as the tides slowly approached their rocks.

We continued onwards up into Canadian Islands. We crossed Boundary Pass and entered...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/29/19 | 1:30pm

What a lovely day out on the water! I really enjoyed talking with all my guests. They were a great group.

Captain Sarah, Naturalist Alexandria and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of Friday Harbor and sped up through the San Juan Channel.

We boated up towards this little island near Waldron Island and spotted tons of seals! These harbor seals lounged lazily amongst the wet rocks and snuggled up against each other as they fought the rising...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Monday, July 29, 2019

What an incredible day packed with wildlife in the Salish Sea! When we left Friday Harbor, the sun was shining and it was shaping up to be a gorgeous day. We headed north out of the harbor toward a report of orcas in Boundary Pass! The water was calm, and we were all excited to see wildlife. We stopped past White Rock, which is south of Waldron Island. It is an important wildlife refuge for pinnipeds and birds alike. We saw a lot...

Erin | Sunday, July 28, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

What an incredible afternoon aboard the M/V Kestrel! The sun was shining when we left the harbor, and we were all ready for a wildlife adventure! We left Friday Harbor and headed north toward some reports of orcas in Boundary Pass. Since the reports of the whales were so close to where we were, we figured we could go and search for some other wildlife before heading towards the orcas. We went to Spieden Island and cruised along...

Olivia | July 25th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Commonly on these morning trips, we leave the dock unaware of what wildlife is out there, and it is our job to help scope it out with other Whale Watch Vessels in the area. Not only is this beneficial to our tours, but it also allows for a heads up to recreational boats, ferries, the list goes on! This is one of the many things that make our trips exciting and a daily surprise. That being said, we lucked out as we started boating...

Olivia | July 24th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Starting out our second trip of the day, Captain Brian and I knew the group of Bigg’s Killer Whales we saw earlier today moved further north, pushing our range to stay between the 3 to 4 hour timeframe. We discussed this with our passengers and came to a group decision that even though there was a possibility we wouldn’t see these whales with the rate they were traveling, we were going to attempt the long trek anyway in hopes of an Orca...

Olivia | July 24th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

It was a beautiful morning as we were able to leave the dock with a reported whale sighting. Earlier that morning, prior to the trip, Captains Brian and Sarah casually boated around to see what whales were gracing our waters when they stumbled upon a family of Bigg’s Killer Whales heading north through the San Juan Channel. Although it is never a for sure thing until we are actively looking at them, especially with marine mammals that...

Olivia | July 23rd, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Starting off our evening sunset trip, Captain Erick and I headed north with our passengers through the San Juan Channel passing between Spring Passage and up to Presidents Channel on the east side of Waldron Island. This island area is a hot spot for Harbor Porpoise which did not disappoint as we saw heaps swimming about the entire way. So much so, that we continued seeing them everywhere in high volumes up until we stumbled across a T...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

This was a trip for the books! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and headed back towards where we had seen whales on our previous trip, in the Strait of Georgia. We stopped past White Rock, which is a very interesting location. It is important for both birds and harbor seals. There were lots of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, some of which had pups! There was one pup that was moving around on the rocks. It was...

Naturalist Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

What an incredible trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this morning! We left Friday Harbor and headed north. It was a sunny day and there were a few reports of whales in the area, so we all felt as if there were exciting times ahead! We stopped by White Rock, which is an important refuge for seabirds and harbor seals alike. We saw about thirty harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, and we also saw some swimming around in the...