Piper | 09/29/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today began as a blustery September Saturday on San Juan Island. Captains Gabe and Sarah and I hopped aboard the M/V Sea Lion with a great group of adventurers and off into the Salish Sea we went! We didn't have to go very far today, though, because we'd barely finished watching a bald eagle soar off Point Caution before we were watching a group of Bigg's killer whales meander down San Juan Channel! This group of orcas was identified based...

Sarah | 09/28/2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

September has always been my favorite month out on the water. In these seasonal transitions the ecosystem is super dynamic creating unique opportunities for wildlife viewing. On Friday we were incredibly lucky to encounter a humpback whale on our afternoon Classic Whale Watch.

Captain Mike, Naturalist Clai, and I decided to head west on our noon departure from Friday Harbor. Though sightings vary drastically day to day, recently heading...

September 27- M/V Sea Lion- 12:00 pm

We had an eventful day out on the water!  We got a report of some transient orcas down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  We headed that way to hopefully get a look at them.  It was a bit of a drive but well worth the travel.  When we got on scene the orcas started hunting a few Steller’s sea lions.  Steller’s sea lions are the largest species of sea lion in the world at a whopping 2500 pounds.  We watched as two matriarchal groups worked together to...

Captain Mike, Sarah, and myself took out a wonderful group aboard M/V Sea Lion to look for the wide array of wildlife that we have the opportunity to watch in the Salish Sea in September. We took our group south through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass. We made our first stop mid channel in between San Juan and Lopez Islands to look at a Steller Sea Lion that had just surfaced! It was our first marine mammal of the day! This adult male had just returned to the surface after...

M/V Sea Lion- Sunday, September 23rd 2018

What a beautiful day we had out on the water today!  The sun was shining, we got to enjoy the west side of San Juan Island, and best of all- J Pod made a guest star appearance! 

Today as we boarded M/V Sea Lion Captain Gabe, as well as Naturalists Sarah and myself were very excited about what the day would bring.  After boarding we headed out, turning south down San Juan Channel.  Our first stop was at Whale Rocks were we were treated to some...

Sarah | M/V Sea Lion | 09/20/2018 | 02:00pm

Today we enjoyed an amazing trip spent surrounded by wildlife and the beautiful scenery of the San Juan Islands. Even though we had a bit of rain throughout the day it did not deter our sightings!

We left Friday harbor and headed across San Juan Channel towards Shaw Island. Someone had reported a possible whale tucked into one of the many coves along the shoreline. Half way across the channel… POOF! A minke whale materialized out of the...

What an amazing day today was!  Guests eagerly boarded M/V Sea Lion with the crew Captain Gabe, and Naturalists Sarah and Alexandria.  As we hit the water we were all very excited that within about 10 minutes of being out we saw Biggs Killer Whales (also known as Transient Orcas).  As we approached the family of orcas we confirmed that these were in fact the T49A family. 

One of the highlights from today was the amazing views we got of T49A1, the eldest male son in the family.  It...

Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with Cpt. Gabe, naturalist Alexandria and I were excited to get on the water on this rainy September day with a report of transient and southern resident orcas in our area. Eager to get everyone on the boat and ready to pick up speed we took off to go find these animals ourselves. 

As of earlier, the transient orca report had been spotted by kayakers and no one else, so we went to the general area to try and find them again. With no luck or dorsals in...

Saturday- 9/22 M/V Sea Lion

We eagerly boarded M/V Sea Lion in hopes that a great day was ahead of us!  Our expectations sure did not disappoint!  We were treated to orcas, and harbor seals on this trip and even the occasional harbor porpoise viewing!

 What an incredible day!  Guests on board were very eager to get some good looks at orcas, and we sure did! It seemed like each surface just got better and better!  Especially when our engine was off and those orcas were right off our...

This Sunday in September sure felt like fall. Capt Gabe, Jordan, and myself headed out with a great group of passengers into the rainy blue Salish Sea. Most people visit this area in the summer, which is beautiful here. The temperature is usually super pleasant, the sun is up for a very long time, and there is usually not a rain cloud to speak of. The rest of the year though, it looks like it did today - very misty, cool, breezy, and rainy. We ventured off into the Pacific...