Sarah | 06/20/2020 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

We had an excellent, albeit the moody weather, out on the water. On my first tour back on the water this season, we got to see so much wildlife, and enjoyed some stunning scenery.

We left Friday Harbor and headed north through San Juan Channel, and took a right up President’s Channel. While we cruised through the impressive channel with the tall hills and bluffs of Orcas Island and Waldron Island on either side of us, we got to see some...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 11/17/2019 | 12:00 pm

What an exceptional day out on the water!  The Salish Sea was a buffet of small schooling fish swirling through the surrounding cold-water currents.  M/V Sea Lion headed out of Friday Harbor with gusto to stop only minutes away to our fist whale sightings!  The T18s were in the area foraging just north of Friday Harbor!  T19C and T18 were hugging the east side of San Juan Island and T19B and T19 were in San Juan Channel about 300 yards...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Wednesday, October 30, 2019

What a great day we had today!  It was probably one of the most perfect fall days!  We left the dock and were so excited to see what the day had in store for us.  We headed north up San Juan Channel and caught up with some Minke Whales off Flat Top island.  We had previously stopped there to check out some Harbor seals that were hanging out on the rocks, and had also seen an eagle fly by and land on the cliff just in...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Friday, October 18th, 2019

What a fantastic day we had out on the water today!  We started out our trip and we had a unconfirmed report of orcas north of us.  By the time everyone had boarded and we were leaving Friday Harbor a few other boats from our area had confirmed this sighting, and we were excited to head towards them!

Little did we know though that there were still more whales to be seen!  As we were leaving the harbor we saw a Humpback...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/24/19 | 12:00pm

It was so nice out on the water! It was super sunny and warm, and the blue skies brightened everyone’s day!

Captain Gabe and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel.

Along the way we saw our first wildlife sighting: a bald eagle! It was soaring through the sky, elegantly flying with ease as it surveyed the area for fish before disappearing behind the trees.

We boated up towards Speiden and...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/22/19 | 12:00pm

Happy Humpback day! We saw so many humpbacks!

It all started as Captain Sarah, Naturalist Piper and I headed up through the San Juan Channel. Despite the rain, we charged onwards towards an adventurous day! We boated up President’s Channel, past Waldron Island and up towards Sucia Island. Here we saw humpback whales!

There were two humpback whales travelling and searching for food! These gorgeous animals explored the area as they swam and...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/21/19 | 11:00am

What a really great day out on the water!

Captain Gabe and I headed south through the San Juan Channel and headed towards a beautiful lighthouse off the southern tip of San Juan: Cattle Point lighthouse.

Nearby, we stopped at Whale Rocks and watched tons of Steller sea lions! They wandered around the rocks, barked at each other and splashed in the water! It looked like they were really enjoying the beautiful sunny day!

Then, we boated out...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/20/19 | 12:00pm

What a lovely day in the San Juan Island!

Captain Sarah, Naturalist Piper and I headed out of Friday Harbor and up north through the San Juan Channel and towards the Canadian border.

We boated up President’s Channel and saw our first blow! It was a humpback whale! This huge animal swam in circles as it fed upon its tiny prey hidden in the murky depths of the Salish Sea. We followed as the whale showed us its 15-foot wide tail! What a...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/19/19 | 11:00am

What an incredible day!

Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out into the foggy depths of the San Juan channel and up towards the north. We could hardly see the outline of Spedien Island as we approached!

We boated near the island and found hundreds of exotic animals! I’ve literally never seen so many mouflon sheep, sika deer and fallow deer all grazing together in huge herds! There were groups of huge male sika deer with antlers wandering...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/18/19 | 12:00pm

What a crazy epic day today!

Captain Gabe, Naturalist Piper and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel. We heard reports from deep within Canadian territory, so we headed that direction. Boating above Stuart Island and crossing Boundary Pass, we crossed the border. We continued up toward Georgeson Pass, intertwining between gorgeous islands, admiring the birds flying by.

As we emerged into open...