The whales were proving that they are the dominant marine species today. While we were rocking and rolling through the waves and being whipped by the wind, the orcas were effortlessly swimming along through the Canadian Gulf Islands. After we took the MV Sea Lion out of the dock today we headed for Turn Point on Stuart Island. The last orca report that we had had said that they were already past Lime Kiln and were headed North. At Haro Strait we gave way to a huge ocean-going...

Not wind, nor weather, nor water can deter us. If the whales are in the vicinity then we will do all we can to get to them. So said our guests today on the MV Sea Lion. Despite the grey skies and the spitting rain everyone was ready to get out on the water and commune with whales. We were in no way disappointed. The reports had been of sporadic behavior, but we found the whales at the South end of the island moving around in classic feeding patterns, which means that they were...

How do you measure the quality of a moment? What is it that makes some indelible and others ephemeral? Why aren't all moments created equal?

Today was one of those types of days. It was grey and overcast with a little bit of rain in the air. The water was steely but calm and nature seemed to be holding it's breath. An eagle floated slowly past, harbor porpoises surfaced erratically and the breezes were still. There was a sense of bridled anticipation coming from the guests, the crew...

Today on the Sea Lion we went out North of Friday Harbor, on the way to find the orcas we saw Harbor Seals hauled out. We then found J-pod. We saw a calf, one female and one male. On the way back to Friday Harbor we encountered Stellar Sea Lions of Patos Island swimming. Everyone was amazed with just how large the Stellars were. We also saw Harbor porpoise. We discussed some of the differences between dolphins (orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family) and porpoises...