Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/19/19 | 1:30pm

Today was a really lovely day out on the water! I really enjoyed speaking with all our guests and answering all their great questions about our wildlife!

Captain Sarah, Naturalist Piper and I headed out of Friday Harbor and headed up north towards reports of killer whales. We headed up through the San Juan Channel and past Speiden Island. We boated around Stuart Island, across Boundary Pass and into Canadian waters. Here we went towards...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 3:00 PM

What a lovely trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this afternoon. We began our trip going north out of Friday Harbor because we heard that there was a gray whale travelling along the shoreline of Shaw Island! We were barely ten minutes into our trip when we saw a beautiful blow up at the surface. It was indeed a gray whale. The whale was travelling very quickly, but we saw it take 2-3 breaths at the surface and then go back down for 3-5...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 11:00 AM

It was an absolutely wildlife-filled day on the water this morning. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We made our way to Cattle Point and got a lovely view of the lighthouse. Then we went directly across the San Juan Channel to Whale Rocks and we saw over 20 harbor seals hauled out of the water! There were a few swimming around in the water as well. Not only were there harbor seals, but there was a Steller's...

Laura C. | 7-12-2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

We had an awesome day aboard M/V Sea Lion!  With bright sunshine, blue skies and calm seas our vessel headed north to Canadian waters!  Suddenly a pair of humpbacks were spotted near North Pender Island!  We saw their exhalations from quite a distance and were thrilled to see fluking from both individuals!  As they brought their tails up towards the sky, a waterfall of saltwater fell over the edge of their flukes and quickly dissipated...

Olivia | July 10th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We had the most adventurous ‘Adventure Tour’ yet this season! Gearing up for the trip, Captain Brian decided to take a risk and head towards our only Killer Whale reports down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, almost bordering Haro Strait. On our way south near Cattle Point, we stopped at Whale Rocks to view Harbor Porpoises (which we saw right at the dock) and many sea birds such as Cormorants. Here’s where the adventure truly began! It...

Olivia | July 9th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

For our rainy sunset tour, Captain Gabe immediately started heading south past the Cattle Point Lighthouse down into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where we had far away whale sightings from earlier in the day. While he was determined to show our passengers whales, I started handing out rain slickers and heaps of blankets for our hour and 15-minute trek south. While on route, we spotted Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoises swimming about which...

Laura C. | 7-9-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

A picturesque mountainous scene was in store for all aboard M/V Kestrel today!  The weather along the Salish Sea turned swells and whitecaps of the Pacific Ocean into transparent glass, creating a mirror image of all the beauty surrounding our vessel.  This sparkling emerald liquid was a nice contrast to the rocky snowy edges of Mount Baker and northern jagged mountain ranges.  Our boat sliced a clean cut through the water as we made our...

Olivia | July 8th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Perk of being on the 3:00pm tour, is that our 11:00am has already scoped out the area to know where our potential whale sightings are. Captain Pete and I were confident on seeing both Humpback Whales and Killer Whales up in Boundary Pass, so we started off by heading north through the San Juan Channel to find them! We ended up near the same family group as this morning, the T65A’s, and watched as they milled around and provided us with...

Olivia | July 8th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Captain Pete and I started off the trip by heading north towards Boundary Pass where we caught word of some potential whale sightings. On our way there we decided to stop at White Rocks and catch a glimpse at some Harbor Seals. Did you know that anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks after they give birth to their pups, the males swoop in to breed all over again? Ouch. Am I right, moms? 

As we continued further up peeking into Boundary...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Sunday, July 7, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What a wonderful evening we had in the Salish Sea! When we left Friday Harbor, the rain was starting to slow down and we could see the sun trying to peak out of the clouds. We were excited because we were heading to the area we had seen orcas in on our previous trip. We headed north out of Friday Harbor and saw lots of harbor porpoises as we headed through San Juan Channel. They were popping up all around our boat and everyone was...