[Sunday, 5/13/18 - M/V Kestrel - 1:00PM - Naturalist Erick]

Happy Mothers’ Day!

This Sunday, Captain Brian and I left Friday Harbor looking for all the wonderful whales and wildlife out here. We started out by going north through San Juan Channel and made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island to check out the remaining Steller Sea Lions resting on the point. There were a group of about 20 adult male Steller Sea Lions wrestling and growling at each other. These amazing...

[Sunday – 4/8/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            This Sunday was another cloudy and misty day here in the Pacific Northwest. Captain Brian, Rachael, and I headed out with a group of excited passengers. We headed north to go in search of whales and other exciting wildlife as well as avoid some of the spring winds that were blowing out of the south. We made it all the way up to Swanson Channel. Just around Moat Point we started to see some blows in the distance...

[Sunday, 4/1/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            On Sunday, we went on another fun search for wonderful wildlife in the San Juan Islands! We headed north towards Spieden Island. We made a quick stop just south of Point Caution because there were four Bald Eagles fighting over some carcass right next to shore. They were super active and kept dive bombing each other with talons open! After they flew away we continued northward. We headed through Spieden Channel...

[Monday, 3/19/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            Again, today, it was beautiful and sunny, and the green waters of the Salish Sea greeted us placidly. Sometimes this great weather is too much. Captain Mike, myself, and a newbie, Alexandria headed out with a great group of folks to find some fun creatures out in the wilds of the sea. We headed north to the place where we had spotted some orcas earlier that morning in San Juan Channel. We soon found them again...

[Friday, 3/16/18 - 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     We have been experiencing a long sunny break from our normal drizzly spring weather and it seems to be bringing out all the natural spring activities in full force. Flowers are blooming, there are little lambs running around everywhere, and the birds have started to migrate back north. On this lovely, sunny day Captain Mike and I took our small group of guests out to search for some fun wildlife. We headed north towards...

[Sunday – 3/11/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            Today, we luckily got another super sunny day! It almost felt like summer, but it was still a little cool outside. Captain Mike, Piper, and I took a great group out with us as we went on another search for some whales and other fun creatures in our waters. Early this morning, most of our team was out on M/V Sea Lion to practice safety drills and saw some orcas then, so at noon we headed in that direction to try...

[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Kestrel, 8/9/17, 10:00AM]

On Wednesday, Captain Gabe and I started on the search for families (matrilines) of Transient (Bigg’s) Orcas. While in the Salish Sea this summer we have not seen the Southern Resident orcas much this summer, we have seen many of the Transient (Bigg’s) Orca matrilines. The main difference between these two distinct, non-interbreeding populations that swim through the Salish Sea is their diet. The Southern Residents eat only fish...

[8/1/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 1:30PM]

Ya know what days are the best? Days with orca whales and their babies breaching and feeding amongst calm seas with sunlight and warm weather and perfection… yes, it almost seems too good to be true. But, today was one of those days!

Coming up into Canadian waters, M/V Sea Lion and guests came up on the T37A family group of transient killer whales! A group of strong, independent sisters and mothers and a grandmother, this group of 8...

Yesterday was probably one of the hottest of the summer here in the San Juan Islands. It got to around 80˚F on land, but once we were on the water it cooled down to a nice pleasant temperature. Today was one of those rare days as well that we did not really go that far. Friday Harbor is on the east side of San Juan Island and usually we make a few stops to see wildlife and eventually make our way to one of the larger straits to see the whales but today we went about a minute outside...

Sometimes when we watch these super intelligent and social creatures we forget that they are predators as well. Orcas exist at the very top of the food chain, even larger sharks steer clear of them due to their ability to outthink and out maneuver even Great White Sharks. Even the majority of indigenous peoples that whaled for food respected the orcas power and intelligence and refrained from even trying to catch them. Out of the two ecotypes of Orcas that are often seen around here...