Heading south out of Friday Harbor, we didn't have to go far to encounter our first Minke whale. There was a lone minke hanging out right outside of Griffin Bay. How great is that! Not even 5 minutes in the trip and we are already spotting wildlife! After we rounded Cattle Pass lighthouse we headed south towards Hein Bank. Sitting over Hein Bank we watched bird balls forming as they dove beneath the surface to feed on the fish just below the surface. The birds weren't the only ones...

Captain Brian, guests and myself departed Friday Harbor just after the rain stopped and headed south. We made it down to Griffin bay to check out a group of curious Harbor Porpoise. Usually Harbor Porpoise are shy and dive deep when hearing boat motors, but today they were friendly and stayed around. Afterwards we continued south and watched two large Steller Sea Lions swim in the water. After seeing the Stellers poke their heads up and looking at us we decided to head to Salmon...

Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin, the guests, and I were lucky enough to have the rain let up as soon as our engines started! With clouds that were only threatening, we headed out to Whale Rocks were we spotted 4 Steller Sea Lions! They were all big boys and were enjoying themselves on the rocks as well as playing in the current. After a time with the Stellers, we headed towards Hein Bank where we spotted several Minke Whales! We got some great views of the Minke surfacing! On our...

The fog bank to the west and north of San Juan Island has been challenging the whale watching fleet recently. Shortly after departing the Friday Harbor dock, Captain Craig learned of a minke whale sighting north of Waldron Island. When we caught up with the cetacean it was executing long dives, 5-6 minutes in duration, followed by 3-5 short dives. We finished the trip off by cruising by a national wildlife refuge and the Cactus Islands, where we observed bald eagles and harbor...

The M/V "Sea Lion" again went south from our Friday Harbor docks in hopes of locating minke whales. And again we were rewarded with great views of a very active minke whale. The beast kept lunging for schooling bait fish, flushing up the dense sea bird flocks that were competing for the same food source.

We were lucky to spend several minutes viewing the feeding frenzy before the sea fog moved in, reducing our visibility to an eighth of a mile! The fog was disorienting for all but...

Heading out of Friday Harbor on this gloriously sunny day, passengers and crew aboard the M/V Kittiwake didn't have to go far to meet up with some Minke Whales! Sitting over Salmon Bank we were able to kill the engine and enjoy the silence while waiting for the minkes to surface. Generally a good way to spot Minke Whales is to scan the horizon for birds feeding on bait fish below the surface. Both the Minke whales and the birds are feeding on the same type of fish. Lucky for us, our...

With our 1:30 departure today, Captain Mike decided to head south with our guests, Naturalist Heather and myself. With heading south we were able to see a couple of Steller Sea Lions hanging out around Whale Rocks! Steller Sea Lions are endangered animals and most the time we see males, aka bulls. Bulls can get to nine feet long and weigh up to 1.2 tons!
After seeing the Steller Sea Lions we motored to Salmon Bank to look at Minke whales. Minke whales are known to be very fast whales...

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...