Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/11/19 | 12:00pm

Today was a fantastic day out on the water! Captain Erick and I headed out of Friday Harbor, into the San Juan Channel and up towards the Canadian border.

We crossed under Speiden Island where we saw exotic sheep and deer grazing along the grassy hillside. We even saw an albino fallow deer! It looked supernatural as its pure white fur glowed in the sunlight!

Then we headed up north, across Boundary Pass and towards the Canadian Islands of...

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 | 3:00 PM | Saturday, August 31, 2019

It was such a beautiful afternoon in the Salish Sea! We headed south out of Friday Harbor and travelled through some very active upwelling zones. Upwelling is caused when water runs into structures that are above and below the surface. We especially see upwelling when the tide is either ebbing or flowing. The tide was flowing, so there were some areas of whitewater that were pretty intense! It is magnificent to be able to see...

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...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, August 23, 2019 | 1:30 PM 

It was an incredible trip watching whales in the Salish Sea today! We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor, as we had some very promising reports of Bigg's killer whales around Smith Island. We headed through the San Juan Channel and went through Cattle Pass, where we got an excellent view of Cattle Point lighthouse! We then went into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which was abundant with wildlife. On our way toward...

Piper | Wednesday, August 21, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

This morning there were a few reports of orcas around the Salish Sea, so Captain Gabe and I took some lovely guests out on the Kestrel to check them out! It was a very typical PNW day out, rainy and foggy, but sometimes those days are extra worth it!

We left the docks and headed north towards Waldron Island where T49A1 was swimming off on his own, his family just five miles away, half the distance at which these orcas can...

Olivia | August 19th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

We had such an incredible morning trip that reassured us for an epic afternoon one as well! The T49A’s had traveled up and down the channel since we previously viewed them, and this time came right to Friday Harbor! We didn’t even have the chance to speed up and slowly motored under 7kts to go see them. We mentally prepared our passengers for one quick view before we left and came back later, wanting to reduce the number of vessels in...

Piper | Sunday, August 18, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Leaving the docks today, Captain Gabe and I felt very lucky to be taking a group of guests on the water because the Southern Resident Killer Whales were still here! We began our trip by heading north in San Juan Channel, but before we could even hit full speed we slowed because a very majestic bald eagle was perched in a tree overlooking the water.

We stopped to get some nice photos before continuing toward Spieden Channel...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Friday, August 16, 2019 | 11:00 AM 

It was an incredible trip this afternoon out of Friday Harbor. As soon as we left the harbor, we saw a bald eagle flying towards the treeline. It was awesome to see its 6 foot wingpsan! We saw it land in one of the trees at the very top, and then we continued on our way toward a report of some Bigg's killer whales. The whales were closeby to where we were, so we spent some time searching for other wildlife on the way. We went...