Piper | Sunday, July 7, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Today was a drizzly Pacific Northwest summer day and leaving the docks we had a day full of possibilities ahead of us! We started moving northwest and were heading over the top of Stuart Island when a report of Bigg’s killer whales came over the radio! They were just a few miles away so we turned the Sea Lion in their direction and about fifteen minutes later we arrived on scene with a family of marine mammal-eating orcas! This...

Olivia | July 7th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today we started our adventure tour by finding two bald eagles right away inside Friday Harbor! Such a good spot after finishing the wildlife talk. We decided to head south down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where two of our whale sightings were. On the way down, we stopped at Whale Rocks and Spotted Harbor Seals snoozing along the shoreline as well as heaps of Gulls and Cormorants. Did you know the bodies of the...

Piper | Friday, July 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM

After a wonderful morning on the water the afternoon promised to be just as exciting, and it sure did deliver! Captain Gabe and I headed out again on the M/V Kestrel and the orcas that we traveled out to in the morning were now just south of Friday Harbor!

We pulled up to the T65As and watched as they traveled through the channel along the shores of Lopez Island. They took a couple moments to entertain the small toddler born just...

Laura C. | 7/5/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

After a beautiful 4th of July on San Juan Island, the party continued out in the Salish Sea among orcas!  Passengers and crew were so excited to hear reports of Bigg’s killer whales right past San Juan Channel near Waldron Island!  We slowly approached the area and waited patiently as the reported family of killer whales were on a dive.  Luckily these whales were clocking six-minute dives today and in a short matter of time we started...

Piper | Friday, July 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00AM

Today was oddly chilly, dreary, and drizzly for a day in July in the San Juan Islands, but it was one heck of a day for whale sightings!! The M/V Kestrel was crewed today by me and Captain Gabe and for our morning trip we headed out to a report of Bigg’s killer whales near Blakely Island.

We arrived on scene with the whales on a deep dive and when they surfaced they were very close to Blakely, coming up in different directions, on...

Olivia | July 4th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 5:30pm 

What a fun Fourth of July! We started off both our 11:00am and 3:00pm tours seeing Bald Eagles, Harbor Porpoises and Harbor Seals. Would it really be Independence Day if we didn’t see any Bald Eagles? We even got the chance to see a Harbor Seal pup cuddling with its mother on the coastal shore of Flattop Island. I may have gotten particularly excited since it was my person first pup sighting of the season. This was thrilling...

Laura C. / 7-3-2019 / M/V Kestrel / 3:00pm

This evening’s excursion was full of a variety of wildlife!  Our vessel headed north and just as we headed away from Friday Harbor we saw a bald eagle swoop across our bow overhead.  Within the first five minutes we already had a wildlife encounter!  The bald eagle is one of the few species to rebound as a population and were delisted from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  This area is home to about 150 breeding pairs and are a great...

Laura C. / 7/3/2019 / M/V Kestrel / 11:00am

Today was a fantastic day on M/V Kestrel!  We were lucky enough to have Bigg’s killer whales seen right around San Juan Island!  As we made our way south we were all so excited to see T65A2 with the T65Bs!  This 15-year old male whale has been traveling with his aunt and cousins for the past few days.  The T65As were near other whale-watching vessels further north but close enough for T65A2 to join back in with his close family if he wanted...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an excellent sunset trip in the Salish Sea! We began our trip heading northeast out of Friday Harbor. We knew there were whales near East Sound on Orcas Island, so we went to investigate to see if we could find them. On our way there, we traversed through some smaller islands and got some amazing views. We were also lucky because the rain subsided and the sun was starting to shine when we left the harbor! We made it to...

Laura C. | 7/2/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It was quite an adventure in the Salish Sea today on M/V Sea Lion!  Passengers embraced the wind and swirling seas like seasoned mariners, in hopes of momentarily connecting with these graceful and somewhat mysterious sea creatures.  Luckily our voyage was to close by Shaw Island, a trifle trip compared to journeys the Sea Lion is capable of enduring.  The rain and fog created breathtaking views of the treetops of surrounding islands...