[Naturalist Erick, Friday 10/27/17, M/V Sea Lion, 12:00]

All of western Washington’s coastline has jumped headlong into fall this week. We have been basking in the warm autumn sunshine and cool fall breezes that mark some of the best days for wildlife watching in San Juan Islands.

Migration Station

On Friday, we started our adventure by traveling north. Autumn means southward migration for both birds and some whale species. The past few weeks we have been seeing Humpback Whales...

10/3/17- M/V Sea lion- 12PM

We left Friday Harbor and headed towards Haro Strait, towards reports of Bigg’s killer whales in the area.  We had barely made it out of the harbor when a humpback surprised us near the shoreline of San Juan Island.  We quickly turned around to follow the animal as it traveled South East.  We watched as the humpback whale did a few diving sequences, showing us its beautiful 15ft wide tail.  We decided to keep going and head towards the orca reports. 

On...

09/25/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today was a magical day out on the water, our guests were spoiled!  We headed South towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca and stopped to see some Steller’s Sea lions along the way.  Although these animals are amazing to see in action they don’t smell too great. 

We continued on and headed towards the city of Victoria through the glassy waters of the strait.  We made it just South of Race Rocks and spotted a humpback whale.  This humpback whale was a brit...

09/22/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today we left Friday Harbor on a beautiful fall day, with a slight overcast and glassy seas.  We first got to see some harbor seals hauled out on some rocks off of Lopez Island.  We then headed to whale rocks where we got to see some Steller’s Sea Lions in and out of the water. 

As we were heading towards our orca reports for the day, we saw a big bait ball that intrigued us, so we made a pit stop.  We were lucky enough to see some minke whales lunge...

Saturday, September 16 – M/V Sea Lion – 1:30 PM Charter

The Sea Lion motored up to Roche Harbor to pick up today’s charter guests—a wedding party! And a party it was. After everyone was loaded up Captain Gabe gave the Coast Guard-mandated safety talk and we were off! We headed north, cruising between Sentinel and Spieden Islands, and spotted a group of harbor seals hauled out on Sentinel! The little rock sausages were sprawled out, taking in the heat from the sun. Continuing past...

09/18/17 – M/V Sea Lion – 12 PM

We left Friday Harbor with reports of whales North of Orcas Island.  We headed in that direction and along the way we got some great looks at a number of different harbor porpoise pods.  Harbors porpoises usually travel in groups of around four or five individuals but occasionally you will see larger congregations of them together in good feeding areas. 

We reached the whale sighting and found the T101’s headed North towards Canada.  The T101’s are a...

09/17/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today was a wet one!  We had a rainy day on our hands, but thankfully whales area already wet so the rain doesn’t bother them. 

We left Friday Harbor and made a cruise around Spieden Island where we saw three Steller’s sea lions swimming in the water.  We also saw some of the exotic terrestrial animals that reside on the island as well as we cruised by.  We then headed to the North side of Orcas Island, where we spotted the T100’s and the T101’s.  The T101...

09/16/17- M/V Kestrel- 10AM & 2PM

We had two trips on M/V Kestrel and both were fantastic!  One of the many benefits of the zodiac vessel is its speediness, so it will allow you to cover more ground in a shorter period of time.   

On our first trip we were the first boat to find a group of Bigg’s killer whales, which is always very exciting!  We got reports for whales around Stuart Island so we headed in that direction and actively looked as we traveled around.  We found the T123’s...

 M/V Sea Lion: Sunday 9/17 @ 12pm

An Early Autumn Afternoon

We started our whale watching trip on a gorgeous, cool and crisp early autumn afternoon.  Our enthusiastic group wasn’t going to let a few sprinkles of rain put a damper on our excitement for what was to come!  We loaded onto M/V Sea Lion- our trusty vessel for the trip- and departed on our adventure.  The crew offered fashionable rain slickers and blankets to anyone who wanted to ensure they keep dry, but mother nature...

09/01/17- M/V Kestrel- 2PM

Today some of our best known transient orcas were on the North side of Orcas Island, not a far boat ride from Friday Harbor. 

We headed up president’s channel where we looked at some beautiful seaside homes and saw some wildlife including some harbor seals and harbor porpoises.  We then headed around the North side of Orcas Island where we got a beautiful view of Mt. Baker.  Mt. Baker is about 10,500ft in elevation and is part of the Northern Cascade...