Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/25/19 | 11:00am

We saw so much wildlife today!

Captain Gabe and I boated out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel and headed south down through the San Juan Channel.

We stopped by huge rocks sitting in the middle of the channel and found Steller sea lions! These massive bouldering creatures crawled around the island, finding places to collapse for a nap.  Others swam in the water, diving between stalks of a bull kelp forest! Really amazing to see the huge animals...

M/V Kestrel | Saturday, August 24th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria | 11AM

We had such a good day on the water!  When we started out the trip Captain Brian had heard a report of orcas a bit on of Victoria.  We started our trek down south through San Juan Channel and began heading out towards these reports. 

We stopped at Whale Rocks and checked out some Steller Sea Lions that were hanging out on the rocks. They were so fun to look at, most were hauled out on the rocks sunning...

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...

Olivia | August 19th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

 The whales made our job look so easy today since there was absolutely no build up when we found them right out of Friday Harbor! The only thing we had a chance to see prior was a Bald Eagle soaring above the pines while I was giving my animal sighting chat to our passengers. The T49A’s were milling south in the San Juan Channel and we were able to view them for a wee bit before splitting off and checking out more wildlife. We do our...

Laura C. / M/V Sea Lion / 8/18/2019 / 1:30 pm

Today was an awesome trip aboard M/V Sea Lion!  The windy atmosphere produced a bustling Salish Sea, filled with waves and wildlife!  We headed towards Middle Bank and found J 16s moving southwest at about 7-8 knots!  The J16s are a three-generation matriline apart of J Pod, consisting of 6 matrilines!  Today, was watched this family of four cruising with the rolling seas!  We saw J26, aka “Mike”, sporting his tall dorsal fin and towering...

Olivia | August 17th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

If any of you have been reading my blogs, you know I have said this many times. The thing is, I’ve always meant it. It holds true to say- today was my favorite trip of the season. Yes, we all know wildlife is enchanting. You never know what you’re going to see, how active they will be, what the weather is doing, or even how your fellow passengers will respond. Today, however, hit the jackpot as Captain Erick, Co-Naturalist Laura and...

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...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Thursday, August 15, 2019 | 5:30 PM

This evening was the greatest trip of all time. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We went through some upwelling zones near Cattle Point lighthouse, which were bringing food to the water's surface and causing birds to gather around us. Cattle Point lighthouse marks the southernmost point of San Juan Island, and it is a gorgeous beacon. We entered into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and headed toward False Bay...

Laura C. | M/V Kestrel | 8/14/2019 | 11:00am

This morning’s adventure whale watch and wildlife tour was simply outstanding!  Captain Gabe directed our vessel, Kestrel, southbound towards Hein Bank.  This area is a great spot for wildlife viewing!  There are a few shallow banks south of San Juan Island, rising above the deeper sea floor to about 50 feet.  These areas tend to congregate dense amounts of small schooling fish along the ledges of the bank, where they prefer to reside near...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, August 13, 2019 | 1:30 PM

It was an absolutely wonderful trip in the Salish Sea today. We left the harbor with numerous reports of large whales in the area, so we headed towards them. We made our through the San Juan Channel and into Spieden Channel. We crossed into Haro Strait and towards Gooch Island, where we soon saw a large blow in the distance. When we got closer, we saw that it was a humpback whale. The whale was taking really short dives and not...