Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/28/19 | 1:30pm

Today was magical! So many exciting things happened.

Captain Sarah and I headed out of Friday Harbor, down the San Juan Channel and towards Cattle Point.

We stopped by this small island called Whale Rocks and found some Steller sea lions! I was incredibly excited to see these huge marine mammals because they’ve been up in Alaska for their mating season for most of the summer! They lumbered around the island as their harbor seal cousins...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 11:00 AM

It was an absolutely wildlife-filled day on the water this morning. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We made our way to Cattle Point and got a lovely view of the lighthouse. Then we went directly across the San Juan Channel to Whale Rocks and we saw over 20 harbor seals hauled out of the water! There were a few swimming around in the water as well. Not only were there harbor seals, but there was a Steller's...

Olivia | July 7th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today we started our adventure tour by finding two bald eagles right away inside Friday Harbor! Such a good spot after finishing the wildlife talk. We decided to head south down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where two of our whale sightings were. On the way down, we stopped at Whale Rocks and Spotted Harbor Seals snoozing along the shoreline as well as heaps of Gulls and Cormorants. Did you know the bodies of the...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM | Saturday, July 6, 2019

Our afternoon trip on Kestrel today was dream-like! We left Friday Harbor and headed south toward Cattle Point! Once we arrived at Cattle Point, we got a beautiful view of the lighthouse, and then we swung past Whale Rocks. There were harbor seals hauled out on Whale Rocks, and some of them were swimming around in the water. We also saw 4 Steller's sea lions swimming around in the water. They were swimming altogether, and we got...

Olivia | May 29th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today was one of the best encounters I have had this season. Captain Gabe, Co- Naturalist Jordan, and I decided it was best to head south through the San Juan Channel between San Juan and Lopez Islands. On route the find whales we stumbled across Harbor Seals! They are the world’s second smallest seal and so cute. They are Pinnipeds much like the Seal Lions, however, they cannot rotate their pelvis or hind flippers. Because of this...

Olivia | May 27th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a gorgeous day in the Salish Sea! We traveled to the farthest edge of our range, making a four- hour trip, in order to find the Bigg’s Killer Whales. On route there, we had the most amazing warm weather, I don’t think we handed out one blanket! We were lucky enough to have many kiddos on the boat, one of which was the designated spotter right at the bow- a future Marine Biologist, he told me! We had a great time spotting the Stell...

M/V Sea Lion | Friday, May 18th | Naturalist Alexandria | 2:00 PM

What a great day we had today!  As we were heading out of harbor we decided we were going to head south and see what we could find.  When we hit the water with no firm reports, all the captains are in constant communication with each other, and work together to decide where each boat is heading, all in an effort to ensure that we scan as many areas as possible looking for whales and wildlife.

We decided to head south...

Piper | Saturday, May 18, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Today was another beautiful sunny day in the San Juan Islands and we took full advantage of it with reports of rain the next few days. We had a nice full boat aboard Kestrel today and left the dock heading north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was a couple Steller sea lions hanging out on Green Point on Spieden Island. These two stragglers looked to be the last of the Green Point colony remaining in the Salish Sea. We expect...

Erick | Sunday, April 21, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

Happy Easter everyone! Today we had a fantastic trip. Captain Pete, Ryder, and I headed out with a full boat on a beautiful sunny day! He headed north through San Juan Channel and then through President Channel following up on a report of orcas near Sucia and Matia Islands just north of Orcas Island. Once we got nearer to Sucia and Patos Islands we started to see the blows! We soon identified them as part of J pod! J pod, probably...

What an amazing day our trip was!  Captain Brian and myself started our day out with no firm reports of whales, which is not unique for this time of year- it just means that we were even more determined to find some awesome things for our new friends on board to see!

We worked our way up North, heading toward the Strait of Georgia.  We checked out some Steller Sea Lions on our way up there, they were pretty entertaining!  As we were heading into the Strait we kept our eyes peeled...