Waking up to a windy forest and a text about how windy it would be out on the channel today, I had no high expectations for whale watching. I arrived at the dock and knew we probably weren’t going to make it to the West side of the island The Resident Killer whales were spotted there last but due to the unsheltered waters it would be too rough for us to get there. Instead, I spoke with Captain Gabe and he had other orcas in mind, a Transient pod was just a short drive out of the...

Gabe and I were ready to take off on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon. We had a half full boat and the guests were enjoying the warm breeze and bright view of the islands as we headed up the San Juan Channel. We had been with a group of transient orcas, who have been hanging around the islands for the past month or so, all day and now we were headed out to catch up to them again. They had traveled all the way from South end of Lopez and up past Waldron Island in just a few hours we...

Headed out of Friday Harbor on a summer-like June day after a pretty rainy and moody month, we were finally getting a taste of that hot summer sun! The breeze in the harbor was warm and the water calm and clear. Captain Mike, naturalist Piper and myself headed north for the San Juan Channel to look for some whales. We barely made it out of the harbor when we received a call from a nearby boat that there were whales headed towards the harbor coming from the south end of the island up...

Jordan | June 13, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 noon

What a great day within the Salish Sea! The 12:00 noon tour had such a wonderful group of people who asked so many thoughtful questions! Before we even left the dock, our guests showed us they were eager to learn. Captain Pete, Mariana and I set off from Friday Harbor with high hopes of finding some orca whales and excited to teach everyone about our wildlife.

We ventured north and cut through the channel beneath Speiden Island...

[Friday, 5/11/18 - M/V Sea Lion - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

It’s sunny weather here again in the San Juan Islands and it’s definitely starting to feel like summer. On Friday before Mother's’ Day Captain Pete and I took a smaller group out to look for exciting animals. We headed north to look in some of the usual places that we see prey for the larger species of whales that travel through our area. We started out looking at some Harbor Seals at Flattop Island. This whole island is...

[Sarah – 05/11/2018 – M/V Kestrel – 1:00pm]

Ahhhhhhhhh… another great spring day in the Salish Sea, perfect for taking the speedy M/V Kestrel out on the water! After getting suited up, we headed out to explore this beautiful inland sea! Captain Mike and I decided to head North towards the Canadian Gulf Islands for the day. As much as previous days’ reports do not forecast sightings, the northern reaches of our range at the mouth of the Strait of Georgia have been off the hook...

[Sarah – 04/26/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

M/V Sea Lion left Friday Harbor on a late April day that felt more like the middle of July! The sun was shining, the temperature was warm, and we had a rumor of whales in the area to start our day!

Captain Brian and I decided to head north towards Patos and Sucia Islands, weaving around Jones Island, and then northeast through Presidents Channel between Waldron and Orcas Islands. There were beautiful views of Mt. Baker and the Canadian...

[Sarah – 04/25/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Yesterday’s noon whale watch was perfection: full of tons of wildlife, b-e-a-utiful blue skies with sunshine, and of course, whales! Captain Brian, Erick, and I were excited to explore the Salish Sea with our group of intrepid guests.

Heading north around San Juan Island we decided to cut straight to the chase, and ducked into Haro Strait on the west side of San Juan to follow up on an early report of killer whales traveling north. We met...

Sarah – 04/18/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Wowza, what a day of whale watching! Pre-season is one of my favorite times to be on the water because we never know what we will find out on the water. Yesterday started out pretty normally for an April day with no reports of whales as we left the dock. Captain Brian and I decided to head north towards the Canadian Gulf Islands to try our luck finding whales and other wildlife. Here in the San Juans there is no “normal” spot to begin...

[Sunday – 4/8/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            This Sunday was another cloudy and misty day here in the Pacific Northwest. Captain Brian, Rachael, and I headed out with a group of excited passengers. We headed north to go in search of whales and other exciting wildlife as well as avoid some of the spring winds that were blowing out of the south. We made it all the way up to Swanson Channel. Just around Moat Point we started to see some blows in the distance...