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Orcas Near Orcas Island!

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/18/19 | 11:00am

What am amazing morning! Captain Brian and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed towards reports of orcas! We boated south of Shaw Island across the south shores of Orcas Island, intertwining through Peavine Pass and then up Rosario Strait.

We stopped by some tiny islands called Peapod rocks where we found some seals! These harbor seals basked in the sunlight as they dried themselves from their watery hunting adventures. You had...

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Orcas and Then More Orcas!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/15/19 | 5:30pm

Today was so amazing! It was just 12 of my guests, Captain Gabe, and me! It felt like such a nice little group. Everyone was so sweet and it was so much fun making friends with the really bright nine-year-old on board, Caileen. Exiting the harbor, we had high hopes for some good orca sightings based on reports we were receiving from other whale watching boats! They were headed towards us!

So, we took our boat and headed north through the San...

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Orcas by the Olympic Peninsula!

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/12/19 | 3:00pm

Today was such a good day! As Captain Pete and I set out of Friday Harbor, we headed south towards potential sightings of something cool near the Olympic Peninsula.

We headed south down through the San Juan Channel, passed Cattle Point and across the Strait of Juan De Fuca! Miles away from home, we spotted a couple boats in the distance. Then our orcas! Yay! Upon looking at the unique dorsal fin patterns and shapes and scratches, we identified...

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Transients Everywhere!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/11/19 | 1:30pm

WOW! Today was unbelievable. We saw so much wildlife, it was fantastic.

Captain Erick, Naturalist Piper and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed up north through the San Juan Channel. We boated all the way up to Boundary Pass near Moresby Island where we saw orca whales!

Here we saw our first pod of orcas identified as the T77s! This group consisted of 5 whales including one of the newest members of the entire...

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Orcas and Humpbacks and Seals Oh My!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/08/19 | 1:30pm

What a really fantastic day out on the water! The sun was out but there were clouds in the distance painting the horizon with beautiful puffy whiteness. Captain Gabe, Naturalist Erin and I set out of Friday Harbor on our vessel and headed north through the San Juan Channel to reports of wildlife.

Boating near Waldron Island, we stopped by a place called White Rocks where we found a bunch of harbor seals! There were literally mounds of seals...

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T65As Vocalizing off Shaw!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/05/19 | 5:30pm

Today was truly one of my favorite whale watches of the season!

It started with the sun starting to sink lower in the sky as Captain Erick and I loaded the boat with all our passengers and headed out of Friday Harbor. We boated up around the south side of Shaw Island right next to Canoe Island and almost immediately found orca whales!

We were so lucky to find the T65As right away only a few minutes from the harbor. As we arrived, this...

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Bigg's Killer Whales Near Waldron Island

Bigg's Killer Whales and Seals Near Waldron Island!

Laura C. | 7/5/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

After a beautiful 4th of July on San Juan Island, the party continued out in the Salish Sea among orcas!  Passengers and crew were so excited to hear reports of Bigg’s killer whales right past San Juan Channel near Waldron Island!  We slowly approached the area and waited patiently as the reported family of killer whales were on a dive.  Luckily these whales were clocking six-minute dives today and in a short matter of time we started...

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Bigg's Killer Whales and Rainbows!

Bigg's Killer Whales Socializing!

Laura C. / 7/3/2019 / M/V Kestrel / 11:00am

Today was a fantastic day on M/V Kestrel!  We were lucky enough to have Bigg’s killer whales seen right around San Juan Island!  As we made our way south we were all so excited to see T65A2 with the T65Bs!  This 15-year old male whale has been traveling with his aunt and cousins for the past few days.  The T65As were near other whale-watching vessels further north but close enough for T65A2 to join back in with his close family if he wanted...

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Killer Whales Socializing Near Orcas Island!

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an excellent sunset trip in the Salish Sea! We began our trip heading northeast out of Friday Harbor. We knew there were whales near East Sound on Orcas Island, so we went to investigate to see if we could find them. On our way there, we traversed through some smaller islands and got some amazing views. We were also lucky because the rain subsided and the sun was starting to shine when we left the harbor! We made it to...

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Orcas in Canada! 06/27/19

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/27/19 | 5:30pm

What a gorgeous day out on the water! Although the clouds floated low towards the island, it didn’t take away any beauty from the surrounding islands. Captain Pete and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor for our sunset tour. We headed north through the San Juan Channel towards a report of wildlife up in Canada! We crossed under the southern bank of Speiden Island when we spotted our first animals!

On rocks close to the waters edge, we...

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