Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 30, 2021 | 2:00pm

Our Friday afternoon Classic Whale Watch was a really fun trip! We departed Friday Harbor in search of wildlife and decided to travel south through San Juan Channel, following a report of something big, black and white in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. These reports are only rumors until we get our actual eyes on them! We passed Cattle Point Lighthouse, entering choppier waters with some rolling swells. The boat rocked and rolled while...

Maxx K. | M/V Sea Lion | 07/29/2021 | 2:00pm

    Today was wild, y’all. Captain Pete and I had no idea what to expect when Sea Lion left Friday Harbor. There were rumors of Bigg’s Killer Whales north of us off the south side of Lummi Island but as we know, whales stay rumors until you see them yourself! We carried on taking the inter-island route, up and over Lopez and through Obstruction Pass. We passed by numerous harbor porpoises during the journey as they surfaced for air in our...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/25/2021 10:00am

What a lovely day out on the water.

Captain Pete and I headed south down the San Juan Channel and out towards open waters. We searched around the southern shores of Lopez Island looking in calm waters for any blows. Not finding anything just yet, we spread our search further south out into open waters.

We stopped by some rocks where we spotted Steller sea lions! These huge pinnipeds climbed up the steep rock face and barked at each other as...

Abby & Maxx | Sea Lion | 6/23/2021

Whale, whale, whale. Hello there! Abby here.

I just got back from this stellar trip and am now on a complete orca high.

Captain Pete, Maxx, and I zipped out of Friday Harbor to find the T037A’s in San Juan Channel.

• Volker T037A (Female, 1994)
  
  • Inyo T037A1 (Gender Unknown, 2007)
  • Inky T037A2 (Male, 2009)
  • Spinnaker T037A3 (Male, 2013)
  • Crinkle T037A4 (Gender Unknown, 2015)

As we headed south through San Juan Channel, travelling parallel to our...

Abby & Maxx | Sea Lion | 6/23/2021

Whale, whale, whale. Hello there! Abby here.

I just got back from this stellar trip and am now on a complete orca high.

Captain Pete, Maxx, and I zipped out of Friday Harbor to find the T037A’s in San Juan Channel.

• Volker T037A (Female, 1994)
  
  • Inyo T037A1 (Gender Unknown, 2007)
  • Inky T037A2 (Male, 2009)
  • Spinnaker T037A3 (Male, 2013)
  • Crinkle T037A4 (Gender Unknown, 2015)

As we headed south through San Juan Channel, travelling parallel to our...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 20, 2021 | 2:00pm

For our afternoon Classic whale watching trip, the boat full of excited passengers was just the beginning to a great day! We headed inter-island to follow a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales in Rosario Strait. Bigg’s Killer Whales are a marine mammal-eating ecotype found in the Salish Sea. They primarily feed on Harbor Seals, though will also hunt Harbor Porpoise, sea lions, and the occasional baleen whale calf. Due to the abundance...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 20, 2021 | 10:00am

One of the fun parts about morning trips is you get to really be a part of the search for whales. None of the whales in our area are tagged, so we rely on visual sightings to search for any wildlife out here. Fortunately, sightings by other boats are shared through the Pacific Whale Watch Association’s online network. As we left the harbor on our Tuesday morning trip, we decided to start our search southbound.

When searching for...

Maxx K. | M/V Sea Lion | 07/19/2021 | 2:00pm

    The crew was stoked for our afternoon trip today. Captain Pete and I joined Haleigh on Sea Lion, stoked for the afternoon given the reports from various morning tours. We left Friday Harbor heading out towards the Juan de Fuca and towards rumors of a T-Party of Bigg’s Killer Whales. It took us maybe 40 minutes to get on scene, but believe me, it was well worth the wait. 

    Four families of Bigg’s Orcas (made up of the T037As, T065A’s...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 19, 2021 | 10:00am

Our Monday morning classic whale watch trip was an experience to beat. Reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca guided our plans to head southbound through San Juan Channel. We traveled through Cattle Pass and east around Lopez Island. Pointed towards Smith Island, we saw our first exhales of some Bigg’s Killer Whales. These orcas were dispersed within a 400-yard range. We would see exhales and dorsal fins...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | July 17, 2021 | 2:00pm

Today’s conditions were pretty perfect. We set out on the water traveling northbound through San Juan Channel. Earlier reports of two unidentified Humpback Whales heading along the west side of San Juan Island through Haro Strait meant it was a race against the clock to reach them before they crossed over the Canadian Border. We zoomed by Spieden Island, watch as nonnative Mouflon sheep, Sika deer, and Fallow deer scampered across the...