What an amazing trip we had today! The wind was minimal, the water was like glass, and the guests were fabulous. The wildlife was simply “steller” as well. In fact, we actually saw a male and female Steller Sea Lion on Whale Rocks at the south end of San Juan Island right off of Cattle Pass! Steller Sea Lions aren’t seen as frequently as our Harbor Seals and can weigh up to two ton! Aimee and I were quite pleased with the sighting.

After watching the Sea Lion, Captain Mike wanted to...

As we left for our tour on the M/V Sea Lion, the sun was shinning bright and the breeze was warm. As we picked up though, the air turned cool and the waters of Cattle Pass were whirling around as the tidal exchange was creating up-welling zones. We were all preparing to see some great wildlife with the reports of many different whales. Before we got on seen with the whales we got to see what I refer to as "Harbor Seal soup" were all of the seals are in the water foraging and we have...

With not a cloud in the sky today, Captain Mike, Naturalist Heather and myself departed Friday Harbor with our guests and headed south, to where Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan De Fuca meet, to check out a Minke whale. This Minke whale was very interesting to watch. I say interesting because usually Minke whales are very scattered and don't surface in the same area. This Minke looked as though it was traveling in the same direction and kept going that one way. Most guests got...

To be born into the world a baitfish would be an especially cruel fate. Baitfish such as herring, sand lance, and surf smelt form the base of the food chain, performing a critical, albeit brief function in the Salish Sea ecosystem.

Schools of these forage fish were being discovered and plundered all across the shallow banks south of San Juan Island today. Gulls attacked the schools from above while rhinoceros auklets picked them off from below, returning from their dives with a...

Upon leaving our Friday Harbor location we heard a report of Minke Whales just south of San Juan Island. After watching Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles along San Juan Channel we ventured out Cattle Pass into the Strait of Juan De Fuca where it didn't take long before we spotted our first Minke Whale.
This is the time of year when we start to see more and more Minke Whales in our area. Minke Whales in our area feed on schools of Herring and Sandlance that can be found in the waters near...

Sunset trips happen to be Captain Mike and I's favorite trips to go out on with our guests. Tonight was great! We left Friday Harbor and went to the south end of San Juan Island, through Cattle Pass and into the Haro Strait. The whales were right off of Eagle Point and were spread out feeding. Mega (L-41) was there, as well as Ocean Sun (L-25) who happens to be the oldest female in L-Pod. These guys seemed to be on a course of their own hunting for the Chinook Salmon they prefer to...

It was a beautiful day to be on the water! We left Friday Harbor and headed south through Cattle Pass and into the Haro Strait where we hoped to encounter some whales. On our way out, we came across numerous Harbor Seals that were utilizing the the upwellings created by the tidal current. These upwellings are a great place for the Harbor Seals to forage and we love seeing their little heads bobbing up and down in the water!

When we got on scene with the whales Keven and I quickly...

Today we headed to the south end of San Juan Island with some fabulous guests, many from foreign countries such as Japan, Germany, and even Australia! We were happy to see such diversity on board today. As we headed through the San Juan Channel, we were all excited to see our Dall's Porpoise having a grand old time ridding the waves off of our stern and bow! Both myself and Emily (the other naturalist on board) had never seen these small mammals and were equally excited to witness...

The day started off great! As we headed out into the San Juan Channel, Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin and myself along with our eager guest came across our local Harbor Seals feeding in the amazing tidal rips that develop in the Cattle Pass area. We saw close to a hundred Harbor Seals!

From there, we heading out through Cattle Pass were we encountered at least a half dozen Minke whales. Minke whales are approximately 25-30 feet long and feed in the shallower waters off the south end...

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.