Piper | Tuesday, September 3, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Captain Pete and naturalists Olivia and I were aboard the M/V Sea Lion today with a fabulous group of folks which were ready to head out and see some Salish Sea wildlife! We left the marina and headed northwest towards Moresby Island in the Canadian Southern Gulf Islands. Along our route we spotted some harbor porpoises surfacing off Spieden Island, with their tiiiiiiiny dorsal fins popping up here and there. We also had...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Tuesday, September 3, 2019

What a wonderful trip aboard Kestrel this afternoon! We began our trip with no firm reports of whales in the area, so we decided to head north in search of some whales. Right after we left the harbor, we saw a bald eagle perched in one of the treetops! It was an adult bald eagle, with a bright white head and some white tail feathers. As we headed through San Juan Channel, we saw some upwelling occurring around us. Upwelling...

Piper | Monday, September 2, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Today was a beautiful, sunny holiday Monday and Captain Pete, Erin, and I had an awesome group of guests aboard the Sea Lion. We had a report of orcas coming south towards San Juan Island from Canadian waters and so we went north to meet up with them!

When we were in San Juan Channel on our way to the orcas, just north of Jones Island, we came across two humpback whales traveling along! These two large baleen whales were only...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM | Sunday, September 1, 2019

What an incredible trip aboard the M/V Sea Lion today! We travelled north out of Friday Harbor in pursuit of some killer whale reports in Canada! As we made our way toward Sidney Island, we went through some upwelling zones, which create whitewater and smooth patches. We also saw some harbor porpoises pop up in San Juan Channel. We crossed the border between the U.S. and Canada and went to a place called Hugh's Passage. After...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Saturday, August 31, 2019

Today was an absolutely phenomenal day full of breaching and surface-active behaviors! We headed south out of Friday Harbor with the sun shining and the water calm. We made our way down to Cattle Point. At Cattle Point, we saw some upwelling happening around us. It was incredible! We then went over to Whale Rocks, which had Steller sea lions hauled out on them and swimming around them! They are massive animals, weighing up to...

Olivia | August 29th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Today was such a breezy day on the water, both literally and figuratively. We started off by [barely] traveling south to find Bigg’s Killer Whales near Pear Point. From there, they turned north and were able to view them all the way back to Friday Harbor. As soon as we found them, we also saw Harbor Porpoises that were frantically fleeing the other way, including a full leap out of the water which is rare for porpoises.  This...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30PM | Sunday, August 25, 2019

What a lovely afternoon in the Salish Sea! We left the harbor with the knowledge that there was a pod of Bigg's killer whales fairly closeby to us! We headed in their general direction, searching for other wildlife along the way! We went to the southern shoreline of Spieden Island, and we almost immediately saw some wildlife! We first spotted some mouflon sheep, which are a non-native animal to the island. They were brought to...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM | Saturday, August 24, 2019

It was such a lovely evening on the M/V Sea Lion. The sun was shining when we left the harbor, and the water was flat. We were in for a nice sunset! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and travelled for about 10 minutes until we came across a pod of killer whales! They were travelling along the shoreline of Jones Island, and they were giving the whale watchers on shore a real show! At first they were just swimming along the...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, August 24, 2019 | 1:30PM 

It was one of the best whale watching trips of the season today! We began our trip with a multitude of reports of killer whales in our area. We were all so excited that there were so many around. We decided to first head toward Boundary Pass, which is north of Friday Harbor. We left out of the harbor and got into San Juan Channel. We passed Jones Island and found ourselves right by Flattop Island, looking at blows and dorsal...

Olivia | August 23rd, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 6:15pm Private Charter

This evening was absolutely gorgeous for hosting a private charter on our M/V Sea Lion. With 45 people in attendance this evening for a wedding the following day, we set up all the catered food and drinks ready to set sail into the sunset. Luckily, we had a small family group just outside the harbor- the T46B1 Bigg’s Killer Whale family group! This...