MV Sea Lion

Helena 

7/16/22

 

What another great day on MV Sea Lion! We departed the dock at Roche Harbor and traveled south into Speiden Channel. Our first encounter of the tour was with some Harbor Seals hauled out on Center Reef in Speiden Channel. We have nearly 40,000 harbor seals in the Salish Sea and these pinnipeds eat small schooling fish and can dive up to 1,000 feet! They are also the primary food source for the marine mammal-eating ecotype of killer whales, the Bigg’s...

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 16, 2022 |12:30PM

We set out on a cool, cloudy day from Friday Harbor in search of wildlife. We headed down south past Cattle Point on San Juan Island and pulled up to Whale Rocks, off the western tip of Lopez Island. Here we saw a haul out of harbor seals as well as Steller's sea lions. While harbor seals are here year-round, sea lions migrate out of the Salish Sea. It's pretty rare to see them here this late in the summer so we were grateful for the chance...

Elle | M/V Kestrel | July 15, 2022 | 2:00pm

We saw all sorts of wildlife on today’s adventure tour. We followed the interisland ferry route from Friday Harbor between Shaw Island and Lopez Island towards Orcas Island through Upright Channel and Harney Channel. This is where we came across two fifteen-year-old male Orca whales, T65A3 and T49A2 who have been perusing the Salish Sea together for the last few days. The boys even “mugged” our boat when they swam directly underneath us...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | 6/14/2022 |12:30PM

Captain Erick and I left the dock with a smaller group today. It’s always refreshing to have a boat with only a few folks, as it gives you the perfect opportunity to better connect with your guests. With only 8 passengers aboard, M/V Sea Lion cruised out of Friday Harbor for a quick San Juan Channel crossing right into Upright Channel. We hugged the coast of Lopez Island before puttering around Ram Island into Lopez pass. While in Lopez...

​Helena 7/10/2022 MV Kestrel 10am   MV Kestrel had a jam packed Saturday with wildlife everywhere we looked! We began our adventure heading south as we received some reports from other vessels south of Lopez Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. With the Olympics peeking out behind the clouds, we made it through Cattle Pass and out of the San Juan Channel. We quickly caught up with a pod of the mammal-eating ecotype of orca whale in the Salish Sea, Bigg's Killer Whales! On scene were...

July 8th, 2022

Abby Dahl

10am Kestrel

Captain Gabe and I zipped out of the harbor with hopes of seeing some Biggs killer whales spotted north. Rumor had it that they were the T065A’s, my favorite matriline in all the Salish Sea, quite possibly my favorite whales in the entire world.

The T065A’s are made up of:

• T065A “Artemis” (1986, Female, Mother of all listed below)
  
  • T065A2 “Ooxjaa” (2004, Male)
  • T065A3 “Amira” (2007, Gender Unknown)
  • T065A4 “Ellifrit” (2011, Female)
  • T065A5 “Elsie”...

Elle | M/V Sea Lion | July 7, 2022 | 2:00PM

Today we followed rumors of orca whales into Canadian waters. We cruised across boundary pass and turned off our engines between Saturna Island and South Pender Island, where we watched harbor porpoises frolic around us and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After the break, we turned back south, towards Friday Harbor. On our way, we came across a young male orca whale, zigzagging through the water by himself near Waldron Island. Although it is...

Helena MV Kestrel 7/1/2022 10am  

This morning’s adventure on MV Kestrel was filled with beautiful wildlife and stunning views of the Gulf Islands here in the Salish Sea. We began our journey north out of Friday Harbor and up San Juan Channel towards Boundary Pass. Our first stop was White Rock where we spotted some Harbor Seals hauled out along the shoreline. Our harbor seal population is considered to be at carrying capacity, hovering around 40,000 individuals total, which is the...

Elle | M/V Osprey | June 30, 2022 |12:30PM

Today we took a long trip up into Canada. After leaving Friday Harbor, we passed Speiden Island where we slowed down to look at its baren southern side, weathered by southerly winds. In the tops of the trees and soaring above us, we saw four bald eagles, likely two mating pairs, prompting us to start a bald eagle tally for our trip. As we neared the northern end of Speiden Island we passed a haul out of harbor seals resting in the sun. Our...

June 30th, 2022

Abby Dahl

10am M/V Kestrel

Captain Michael and I peeled out of the harbor, knowing it was about to be a long journey in our search for whales. We had only one report of Bigg’s killer whales near Race Rocks in British Columbia, Canada, so we took a right and began heading south through San Juan Channel. It was almost ironic, as we immediately found a pair of humpback whales upon our southbound journey. They were taking long dives, so we only saw them a few times before...