Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/19/2021 2:00pm

So nice to get out on the boat!

Captain Pete and I grabbed our guests and headed out to sea. We heard whispers of something exciting happening over in Canada so we headed out to find out what the commotion was about.

We headed south and passed cattle point lighthouse as we rounded the southern point of San juan and headed west. Looking at a map, the Canadian border zig zags across the islands so the city of Victoria is actually south west of...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | March 22nd, 2021 | 13:00

Today was an unexpected and exceptional spring day in the San Juan Islands. Setting out with an all-female crew, Captain Sara and I started our search by heading north towards Flattop Island, looking at Seal haul out locations and bumping into Boundary Pass, staying on the U.S side of the border. Turning Southwest on our journey, we cut through John’s Pass, aiming for the Haro Strait. It was on this trek that we caught word of Killer...

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 7/11/2020 | 1:30 PM

Waking up this morning with rainy skies was no deterrent to visitors of San Juan Island to come on a whale watch, as marine mammals obviously love the water!  Passengers were happy as clams to board M/V Sea Lion with high hopes for the day and I was thrilled to hear reports of whales booming on the radio in our bridge!  We headed south through San Juan Channel and curved over towards Salmon Bank.  Captain Pete was in communication with other...

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 7/2/2020 | 13:30

    Today was a magical day on the west side of San Juan Island!  I am ecstatic to report K pod received the upmost welcome back as they made their way up and down the shoreline, foraging and enjoying their time back home!  There are 17 individuals left in this pod, and we were all able to see them spread out and moving through the water in their natural habitat, a heart-filled experience that hopefully we will be able to see again one day.  

Sarah | 10/24/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Captain Mike and I left Friday Harbor on a beautiful autumn day here in the Pacific Northwest. We elected to head south out of the harbor. At this point in the year there are fewer boats on the water, usually running one trip a day departing at around noon. This means that we rarely have any wildlife reports before leaving the dock, and reports start rolling in as boats spread out throughout the Salish Sea.

Mike steered down San Juan...

Those aboard M/V Sea Lion today were treated to an incredible day!  This time of year we are lucky enough to frequently see orcas on our trips, but whenever we are out on the water and are treated to orcas it is truly an amazing trip!

When we headed out, Captain Pete was optimistic with reports that we had heard in the area, so we all headed out of Friday Harbor and south in San Juan Channel.  We were treated to some gorgeous views of Cattle Point Lighthouse on the southern tip of...

It was a beautiful morning on the San Juan’s, starting to finally feel like summer! Sun shining and not too breezy! We had an excited crew on board and Captain Gabe along with naturalist Jordan and I were headed south down the San Juan Channel to go look for some orcas we heard were hanging out on the west side of San Juan. Talk was that this was Jpod (one of the southern resident orca pods) I had not seen them since September of 2017 and I was giddy about getting to see my favorite...

[Lauren Fritz, M/V Kittiwake, 07/03/17, 1:30 pm Charter Tour]

M/V Kittiwake had a private charter today, and Captain Gabe and I were stoked to hear that a pod of Transient killer whales were headed to the west side of San Juan Island. We had a wonderful family on board, and after briefing them on the plan for the day, we headed out of Friday Harbor and turned south to see what these whales were up to!

The weather has been a bit hazy these past few days due to some large wildfires up...

Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 7/18/17, 6:00 pm Tour

Today's sunset trip was a real treat for those of us on M/V Sea Lion. As we pulled away from the dock in Friday Harbor, we were excited to venture out and meet up with some of our Southern Resident Killer Whales that had been sighted earlier near the southwestern side of San Juan Island. These whales were members of L-pod, one of the three Southern Resident Killer Whale pods that we see out here in the Salish Sea. J-pod and K-pod were...

Lauren Fritz, San Juan Safaris, M/V Sea Lion, 6/8/17, 1pm Tour

Did you know today is World Oceans Day? What better way to celebrate than a whale and wildlife tour with San Juan Safaris! M/V Sea Lion was off the dock today at 1 pm and facing some wet and sloshy weather. Luckily, we're well-equipped out here - we've got rain slickers, snuggly blankets, and a toasty cabin to retreat to when the going gets too wet! Days like these are an adventure, and we soaked up way more than just...