[6/25/17 - M/V Sea Lion - 1:30PM] The Residents are back! Parts of J pod and L pod were both spotted and heard (on the hydrophones) this morning. This is exciting! The San Juan Islands are best known for the salmon eating Southern Residents and it’s great to hear that they are back at least if only for a little while. Captain Gabe, Rachel, and I set out with a great crew to go find them. When they are around they usually have a few distinct paths that they like as they search for the...

[06/23/2017 – M/V Kestrel – 02:00pm]

M/V Kestrel is our newest vessel in our fleet of four, and she has consistently proven to be an amazing tool over the last year of use. Going into her second summer as a part of our fleet I am excited to see how we can continue to use this incredible boat to better our guest experience. We are consistently impressed by the smoothness of the ride and just the sheer distance that we can cover on this boat.

Yesterday’s tour was a great example of...

[06/13/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 01:30pm & 05:30pm]

Today we had another wonderful day on the water with multiple whale reports and sunny skies. We had the pleasure of hosting two wonderful groups of guests on our afternoon and evening trips.

On our afternoon trip we headed north through San Juan Channel towards Spring Passage between Jones and Orcas Islands. Heading towards White Rock in Cowlitz Bay near Waldron Island we found harbor seals and a bald eagle out on the rocks. Both...

It’s the most magical month of the year! It’s Orca Awareness Month! At San Juan Safaris we believe that every month is Orca Awareness Month, but since 2006 Washington State has officially recognized our Southern Resident Killer Whales in the month of June.

The month-long, now multi-state and international, celebration was...

Yesterday the Kestrel left the dock heading West towards the city of Sydney, which is located on Vancouver Island.  That’s right, we were headed for Canada!  A lot of guests ask about whether or not we are able to travel into Canadian waters for whale watching and the answer is yes!  As long as we do not dock our boat we are welcome to motor into the Canadian Gulf Islands.  Captain Brian had reports of transient orcas traveling North next to the city of Sydney.  We watched as 4 orcas...

Yesterday the M/V Sea Lion had an amazing encounter with three family of Bigg’s killer whales, also known as transient killer whales, traveling in San Juan Channel. It was such a treat to have such active whales so close to the harbor, and definitely not an everyday occurrence!

Captain Mike, Emily, and I left Friday Harbor with a full boat of guests under sunny skies. We headed north as the whales had been reported earlier in the morning by members of the Pacific Whale Watching...

Captain Mike and I had the pleasure of taking out a private Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour today for the first day of spring.  With early rumors of whales, we were all hopeful for a sighting.  Captain Mike, communicating with other member of the Pacific Whale Watch Association was able to track down J Pod off the west side of San Juan Island, in Haro Strait, near Vancouver Island.  It was a beautiful calm day on the water and we were able to get many great looks at the group of...

Yesterday the M/V Sea Lion headed out on the water for a private charter. I love being a part of hosting these private events, as we can totally taylor the trip for whatever the groups are most interested in. Yesterday our group wanted to find as much wildlife as we possibly could, and wildlife we found! We left Friday Harbor and motored north. At Spieden Island we encountered a lively group of Steller's sea lions, and a number of bald eagles. As we headed further north up and around...

Today was one of the best trips I had all season. Captain Brian, Naturalist Mike and I set out from the dock without a single report determined to find some wildlife we set out North towards Spieden Island. When we reached the Wasp Islands just west of Orcas and Shaw Islands we received a report of a large group of orcas moving south through Rosario Strait on the other side of Orcas Island, so of course we had to go check it out. Though there was a bit of wind and some significant...

Our legendary 2015 late season whale watching continues to impress, with this weekends sightings including resident killer whales, humpback whales, as well as transient killer whales.

On Friday the Sea Lion went out on a high seas adventure, looking to find some of our Southern Resident killer whales just to the south end of the San Juan. We marveled at some members of L Pod including L72 Racer and her son L105 Fluke as they surfed in the waves around our vessel. We also enjoyed...