Laura C.| 6-20-19 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a spectacular day out on the water!  We traveled south through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point and our first marine mammal encounters consisted of Steller’s sea lions!  It was so exciting to get some up close and personal looks at these charismatic creatures basking in the sun and jumping in and out of the cool water.  There were a couple of massive males present on the rocks as well!  These sea lions were quite active today and...

Piper | Thursday, June 20, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

This morning when Captain Gabe and I arrived at the docks a ferry came into the marina here in Friday Harbor and reported seeing orcas just outside the town! While I got everyone fitted in exposure suits, he jumped on the boat and took it out to locate those orcas for us. Once he’d spotted them and we were ready to go, he brought Kestrel back and we all hopped on! We headed north into San Juan Channel to go check out this group...

Olivia | June 17, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

This chilly day on the water turned out to be awfully spectacular.  We received word about a possible Killer Whale sighting near Waldron Island that was heading north. On route to follow this hint, we stopped near Spieden Island and saw 4 Bald Eagles and continued through John’s Pass to view heaps of Harbor Seals. Being a very low tide today, there were plenty of small, rocky islands for these tiny Pinnipeds to roost on while they laid...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, June 14, 2019 | 12:00 PM

What a fantastic afternoon out in the Salish Sea! It began with humpback whales directly outside of Friday Harbor. We headed a couple of minutes south before seeing two humpback whales. They were diving at the same time and coming up to the surface at the same time. We got to see both of their flukes come up out of the water, and the whales were identified as Heather and Raptor, who are two female humpback whales. After seeing...

Piper | Thursday, June 13, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

It was Captain Gabe and I on the Kestrel again today, but the crazy heat from yesterday had faded some, making the exposure suits we provide for guests extra helpful on the water. We had an awesome group of people today and we left the marina in Friday Harbor and headed north along San Juan Island. We stopped at White Rock near Waldron Island where we spotted a pair of bald eagles atop the rocks, which were also littered with h...

Piper | Wednesday, June 12, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Today was another wonderfully sunny and warm day in the San Juans and as we were getting suited up to get on the colder waters off-island, a report of Bigg’s killer whales came through the radio! So Captain Gabe and I loaded up on Kestrel with some awesome folks and headed north in San Juan Channel! Right off the bat we saw an awesome bald eagle resting on the trees outside the marina, scanning the waters for food! We stopped...

Naturalist Alexandria | M/V Sea Lion | June 11, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an awesome evening tour we had today!  We were with orcas earlier today for our noon tour, but had heard on the radio once we got back that the orcas we were had headed out of the area by the time we were ready for our sunset trip.  This is always possible, one time of day for a trip isn’t better than the other, but our whales here can swim over 100 miles in one day, so it is always possible that we have them for one...

Olivia | June 11, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a gorgeous day on the water! Not only did we have an incredibly warm day nearing 76 degrees, but it was also extremely clear! All the back drops for our photos were pristine with sharp mountain views and clear blue skies. We started the trip heading north through San Juan Channel, past Spieden Island, and over near Point Disney where we saw our family of Bigg’s Killer Whales. This was such a fun group to watch as there were lots of...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Tuesday, June 11, 2019 | 11:00 AM

Today was a stunning day out in the Salish Sea. We left Friday Harbor and travelled north toward some orca reports. As we got closer to Spieden Island, we got some amazing looks at a bald eagle perched in the treetops. It had its white plumage, which means it was an adult. We continued along the coast of the island and saw some Mouflon sheep! They were down by the water's edge eating algae off of the rocks. There were about...

Piper | Saturday, June 8, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM

On this evening’s sunset whale watch we headed out of the marina to go north again, with a very different destination in mind compared to our afternoon trip; the same orcas we were watching by Jones Island were now in Cordova Bay off of Victoria, BC! So we cruised up San Juan Channel and into Spieden Channel to go over the top of San Juan Island and just as we were pointing down the Haro we spotted two humpback whales which were...