Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/05/19 | 5:30pm

Today was truly one of my favorite whale watches of the season!

It started with the sun starting to sink lower in the sky as Captain Erick and I loaded the boat with all our passengers and headed out of Friday Harbor. We boated up around the south side of Shaw Island right next to Canoe Island and almost immediately found orca whales!

We were so lucky to find the T65As right away only a few minutes from the harbor. As we arrived, this...

Olivia | June 29, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Sunset tours are always favored by the staff, and for good reason! Calm seas, gorgeous, golden sunset over the water, and Cattle Point Lighthouse silhouetted in the background- what’s not to love? We started off the tour heading south towards Salmon Bank where there were potential wildlife sightings. We saw heaps of Pigeon Guillemots, Auklets, Gulls, and Bald Eagles as we traveled down the San Juan Channel. We even saw a juvenile Bald...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/06/19 | 11:00am

As the sun shone bright overhead and the Salish sea beckoned us to join her, Captain Brian, Naturalist Sarah and I set out towards promising reports of humpback whales up north. But then, almost immediately, we got a brand new report of orca whales off in the Rosario Strait!

Filled with excitement, we headed south down through the San Juan Channel. As we neared Cattle Pass off the southern point of San Juan, we spotted a crazy battle in the...

Jordan | June 29, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 sunset trip

What a lovely sunset tour today! Captain Mike and I set out at 5:30 from Friday Harbor with a fairly decent idea of where we could find orcas!

We received reports of a transient whale pod up in West Sound, so we headed north through the San Juan Channel towards those waters. However, as soon as we grew closer, the whales took off in the opposite direction! Luckily, we were able to catch up and we met the whales in the Upright...

Jordan | June 18, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 sunset

We had such a great group of people today! Everyone was full of enthusiasm and eagerness to see wildlife. It felt like the first real day of summer; sitting on the boat by the dock, it was actually hot! The sun shone brightly as we headed out of Friday Harbor for our 5:30 sunset tour. Captain Gabe led us south through the San Juan channel, past Cattle Point and into the shallow waters of the Salmon Bank.

Along the way, we found a...

Jordan | June 15, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 noon

Today the Sealion journeyed out of Friday Harbor for the 12:00 noon tour with Captain Pete, Naturalist Rachel and myself. Reports of the J pod were coming in from the southwest side of San Juan Island, the same region this group was found yesterday! Perhaps there is a great group of salmon in that area.

Our boat headed south towards Cattle Pass and we stopped at Whale Island, a tiny island off the tip of Cattle Point. Here we saw...

June 09, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon 

What a fantastic trip we had today! The weather was super cooperative and shone sunlight on our entire journey. Captain Gabe, Mariana and I were all very excited to start the day and set off on the voyage to find whales.

Coming out of Friday Harbor for the 12:00 trip, we headed south towards Cattle Pass. As we boated through Griffin Bay and neared Cattle Point (the southern point of San Juan), we spotted the orca whales! Multiple groups of...

[09/12/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 12:00PM]

Boy, was today foggy! As we left Friday Harbor on M/V Sea Lion, the day was overcast, but visibility was great! Then juuuust as we hit Cattle Point on the south side of San Juan Island, we hit a wall of fog in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. But, that wasn’t going to dampen our spirits! We were determined to find orca whales.

We were talking with boats out on the water who were with Southern resident killer whales, but we even had to...

Seals basking on rock outcrops. A Minke whale in Griffin Bay. A Stellar sea lion wrestling with an OCTOPUS? Yes at Cattle Pass.  Harbor porpoise on the port side! The sea lion won. Then off to Hein Bank to view a Humpback whale. One single humpback lazily coming up for air, then a 5 minute dive - going to Victoria.

What a day.

What a difference a day makes; we had blue skies and the glorious warm sun to greet us as we cruised out of Friday Harbor.  First wildlife sighting was just north of Griffin Bay with several harbor seals getting a suntan.  Next we viewed a bald eagle’s nest and admired the massive construction.  It is incredible to think that they can be six feet in diameter.  As we rounded Cattle Point, we were on the lookout for orcas!  Sure enough we saw L87 “Onyx” foraging outside of False Bay...