Erin | Monday, May 20, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 p.m.

Today was incredible. It began with some sightings of harbor seals as we departed from Friday Harbor. They were swimming through the water as we cruised past them. We travelled north toward President Channel, and we saw some harbor porpoises and harbor seals along the way. Everybody became quite good at spotting harbor porpoises as the trip went on. Their small, chocolate chip-shaped dorsal fins became stars of the show at...

Sarah | 05/13/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

We had another amazing day in the Salish Sea today. I know that I say that every day, or at least every time I write a blog, but I’m serious… this is the coolest place ever! Today this ecosystem was truly a delight to explore and we had amazing views throughout the duration of our boat trip!

Captain Pete and I elected to head north today into the nutrient rich and productive waters of Boundary Pass and the Strait of Georgia. This area of...

Captain Pete, naturalist Alexandria and myself and were taking off for our second trip of the day along with our joyful guests that were ready to be out on the water. We had heard some other boats had found a humpback on the West side of San Juan and were hoping to get a look at it on this trip. We headed up the San Juan Channel as the wind started to pick up and cause the waters to get a little choppy. As we rounded the northern tip of San Juan Island we were able to get a close...

Wednesday, May 23rd | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 PM

This afternoon, Captain Gabe and I assisted our guests aboard the M/V Kestrel and set out to find some whales! With only second-hand reports we headed north to check things out. We arrived off Jones Island and slowed to nearly a stop. Scanning the waters, we found a small pod of harbor porpoise frolicking nearby! We moved west toward Green Point on Spieden Island and found a couple of Steller sea lions soaking up the sun.

Continuing our...

Wednesday, May 16 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon

The M/V Sea Lion left Friday Harbor today and headed south into the glorious San Juan sunshine towards a report of two humpback whales near Salmon Bank, just off Cattle Point. Captain Pete, naturalist Rachel, myself, and our guests arrived on scene to find a giant humpback whale pectoral fin waving in the air! Humpback pectoral fins are up to 15 feet in length and we watched as this animal showed us its left pec, then its right pec, then...

A Look Back At Our Fantastic Trip

[Naturalist Alexandria – 09/20/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Our energetic group boarded Sea Lion on a crisp September afternoon, ready to explore the water surrounding San Juan Island to see what wildlife we could find!   We ventured north and began our search for some awesome wild life! 

Not long after leaving the harbor we were treated to some quick glances of a playful harbor porpoise frolicking in the waves as well as a harbor seal creating a...

Friday, March 24th, turned into a fabulous day on the water!  Captain Mike, guests aboard the M/V Sea Lion, and I were hopeful that the cool spring day would turn something up, and we were not disappointed!  During this early season, we usually leave the docks with no reports.  I did not let this fact discourage me, because we are members of the Pacific Whale Watch Association and know of all sightings in the area in real time.  I had my fingers crossed for cetaceans in the San Juans...

We had a wintery day out on the water on Monday. Captain Mike and I headed north into Canadian waters on the search for whales and wildlife! We saw many bald eagles scattered trough the evergreen trees and enjoyed looking for harbor seals hauled out on the shores. We motored around Spieden and Flattop Islands, marveling at how beautiful the greenery of the islands looked under the low clouds.

We continued on our search pattern north into Boundary Pass, crossing over the large...

Today Captain Brian and I had a lovely charter of three people on our newest vessel M/V Kestrel. This boat is pure fun, reaching speeds of up to 35 knots. Today was an ideal day for Kestrel: smooth water, sunny skies and whales in the area!

This summer has been interesting for our Southern Resident Killer Whales. They are specialists, meaning they focus mainly on one food source. Our Southern Residents focus mainly on Chinook salmon… actually 80% of their diet is comprised of this...

There have been some subtle changes in the Salish Sea of late. Common murres have been flooding in, little phalaropes are again congregating at current lines, and it seems that another Steller’s sea lion adds itself to the slumberfest at Whale Rocks each day. In the coming days and weeks other migratory waterfowl like loons, grebes, and scoters will arrive from northern breeding and feeding sites. We’ve recently ended our sunset tours because darkness was beating us to the docks. All...