It was all about the killer whales today as we left Friday Harbor heading south, but we did see a large group of harbor seals hauled out on a rocky island on the way. After rounding Cattle Point heading around the west side of the island, we spotted two members of J-pod just outside False Bay. It was an adult female and a smaller whale that looked like a calf.

The whales were traveling south but stopped moving and started to dive and surface in one spot. We turned off the boat to...

For today’s trip we headed south through the San Juan Channel in between Lopez and San Juan Island. Across from Cattle Point we reached our first hot spot for wildlife viewing. Here we found Harbor Seals one side of a small rocky island and Steller Sea Lions on the other. The Steller’s were fairly large and very photogenic today! We then moved on just around the south side of San Juan Island into more open water.

We didn’t have to go very far, about 500 yards, and we saw two Minke...

It warms my heart when I see full grown adults get excited--yelling, pointing, shouting, oohing and aahing--over marine life!  'Cause I'm one of those adults too!

Today, with no orca reports in the Salish Sea, we headed out on the water with a boat full of curious and eager passengers and lots of hope to see marine life.  South from Friday Harbor, we started off with some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, five of which were lined up side by side like sausage links!  Further on at...

It was easy, maybe too easy, finding killer whales today. We headed up north from Friday Harbor, and just east of Spieden Island we encountered both K and L pods. They were everywhere around us! Breaching, spy hopping, and tail slapping. After watching them for a while, we headed back south towards Cattle Point. We saw harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and a juvenile bald eagle. Then, as we headed back into the harbor we encountered the killer whales again! And they were still being...

It was a beautiful trip from the beginning today!  Heading out of Friday Harbor on a wonderfully clear day we were able to get some amazing views of the snow-capped Mt. Baker.  The usual sunbatheing Harbor seals were all out in about swimming on both sides of the boat and we got a great view of a tiny harbor seal pup swimming along! Continuing on our way out we passed by a few stellar sea lions also in the water and one with a fish in it's mouth!  We rounded cattle point and headed...

Something rare occurred today; killer whales surprised us by coming up not only next to our boat, but a couple swam under our boat! Let me start from the beginning… we left Friday Harbor heading south, stopping to see some harbor seals hauled up on rocky areas. We also went around whale rocks to see the steller sea lions that were hauled out, but not only were there some on the rocks, two giant individuals came out of the water, walking up the rocks at the same time!

We then headed...

Very unusual sighting today…a humpback! It was right on the west side of San Juan Island. We motored around cattle point and saw a bunch of boats in one area. Everyone eagerly searched for what could possibly be nearby. Then we saw the spout followed by its large back. We watched for a while and were able to see it go down for two deeper dives, arching its back and exposing its fluke. Plus, when it exhaled, it sounded like it was wheezing because it made a high pitched, scratchy...

I was a little worried waking up this morning to overcast skies, but just before leaving on today’s adventure the clouds started to part and the sun shined through. Our luck continued as we circumnavigated San Juan Island. There were tons of harbor seals with little pups in the water and hauled out on rocks. As we went around Cattle Point a bald eagle flew over our boat, giving us one of the best views I’ve seen of one. Just further ahead, we spotted our first killer whale. Then, a...

Today was one of those rare perfect days to be a wildlife watcher. The sun was shining and the water glassy as we made our way south from Friday Harbor. Our first stop was at whale rocks where there were the most wildlife species I’ve ever seen at one time. There were cormorants, gulls, harbor seals in and out of the water, and two animals we do not see often: a brown pelican and not one, but two giant Steller’s sea lions, one of which was in the water and came up right behind our...

Sky and sea blended together as we left Friday Harbor this afternoon. It was overcast and a bit foggy, but spirits were high in the hopes of finding killer whales. We headed south, and as we turned around Cattle Point it started to clear up, giving us good visibility. As soon as we reached False Bay, off in the distance was a large, triangular dorsal fin. Soon after that we were surrounded by killer whales, and even got to see a younger one breach three times before swimming off.

We...