Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | April 19th, 2021 | 13:00

Shortly after departing the dock, we received word of some Killer Whale reports northeast of Orcas Island. We immediately started heading that way north around the islands, passing lots of wildlife along the way such as harlequin ducks, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, cormorants, Harbor Seals, and swimming Steller’s Sea Lions. About halfway between Barnes and Matia Islands, we started to see three spouts of Bigg’s Killer Whales...

Olivia | April 18th, 2021 | M/V Kestrel | 14:00

It felt great to get back out on my first M/V Kestrel trip of the season with Captain Brian, especially since it was warm, calm, AND sunny around the islands. We started the trip with a great group of people excited to get out and see what the Salish Sea had to offer. We departed the dock by heading south towards Cattle Point, stopping mid channel to view a giant bait ball with lots of bird action including a variety of gulls...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | March 29th, 2021 | 13:00

M/V Sea Lion was chartered by an all-female crew today! Captain Sarah and I set out to have one of the craziest and most exciting days this 2021 season in the Salish Sea! We immediately left the dock with reports of Killer Whales in the vicinity. Not just any Killer Whales, though, there were rumors of SIX different families of Bigg’s Killer Whales- averaging around 22 transient orcas uniting on the upper west side of San Juan Island...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | Septmeber 28th, 2020 | 13:00

Today was probably the clearest day we have had in over a month. No clouds were to be found in the blue, sunny skies and our old friend Mount Baker stood tall waving hello after a few weeks sitting behind clouds, smoke, and lots of fog. It was already setting out to be a gorgeous, fall day out boating in the San Juan Islands with a little twist of summer on top. Our migrating Humpback Whales have spent most of the summer foraging...

Olivia | M/V Kestrel | September 20th, 2020 | 10:00

Heading off into the foggy water opened our morning adventure to one big adventure. We traveled north into the cool morning, and shortly after crossing through President’s Channel, the sky appeared and the fog settled, bringing in the glorious morning sun. It was one of the first mornings in a while where we could see the surrounding islands since we have had so much smoke from the wildfires. All of this contributed to high spirits...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | September 11th, 2020 | 13:00

This smokey, yellow day started off a bit eerie in the San Juans due to the wildfires in Oregon, Washington, and California. We did not let this stop us from heading out in the water in search of wildlife that could be milling around. Shortly after leaving the dock, we saw a Steller’s Sea Lion swimming in San Juan Channel, coming up for big breaths in the golden haze. To start off our path, we decided to head north where there was...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | September 4th, 2020 | 13:30

Leaving the dock, we were lucky enough to receive some whale rumors far south in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Attempting to give our passengers the best possibility of seeing whales, we decided to follow this rumor and head straight south. Coming up on the eastern side of Hein Bank, we spotted SIX black dorsal fins! These whales were initially by Smith Island and traveled west our entire trek south through the calm waters.

This...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 21st, 2020 | 13:00

What an adventurous morning on M/V Sea Lion braving the weather and circumnavigating San Juan Island! We started the trip with no whale reports, a very common daily occurrence, and decided to head north scanning the wildlife hot spots for any action in the water. We first stopped at the eastern side of Spieden Island where there were THREE Steller’s Sea Lions swimming in the water near the Bull Kelp reef. This was riveting! Not only...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 18th, 2020 | 13:00

We left the dock today with no whale reports in the area- a completely normal way to start any whale watching trip, especially when you are one of the first boats off the dock. Therefore, Captain Sarah and I agreed to head north towards some wildlife hot spots where we tend to see higher numbers of Pinnipeds and Cetaceans.

Aiming towards Waldron Island, we caught word of a whale rumor near Patos Island, but in Canadian waters. Due to...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | August 11, 2020 | 13:00

It was an exception treat this morning leaving the dock. We had reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales within our area that swam in quickly from Victoria early this morning. They moved up so far and fast, that leaving the dock they were milling near the south western part of San Juan Island. In order to give our passengers, the best possible opportunity to view Transient Orca, we decided to head straight for this family before they moved too...