Jordan Higgins | M/V Sea lion | 04/03/21 |1:00pm

Today was such a special day! It is pretty rare that we see both the Southern Resident Killer Whales and the Transient Orcas in one trip. I felt very lucky and I’m fairly sure all my guests felt the same way.

Captain Pete and I began the day like any other, boating out of Friday Harbor and listening to any reports of orcas in the area. We got word from a research vessel that the Residents were only a few minutes away! So, we headed...

Jordan Higgins | M/V Sea lion | 03/27/21 |1:00pm

Today was a fantastic day out on the water! Captain Pete, Laura and I hopped on our vessel, the Sea Lion, and took off out of Friday Harbor.

We were lucky to begin the tour with reports of Southern Resident whales just a couple islands away! But, before we could even leave the harbor, we found a different wildlife surprise: Steller sea lions! There were three of them lounging in the water, showing off their massive bodies as they...

[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 08/27/17, 5:30 pm Tour - Final Sunset Tour of the Season]

It's that time of year - the sun is setting earlier and earlier, which means we are saying goodbye to our sunset tours for the season. Today was our last, and Naturalist Kelsey and I were excited to soak up every minute of it. Captain Mike took us out to see a group of Bigg's Killer Whales out in the Strait of Georgia. These were the T65A's, a group of five orcas. Mom is a beautiful 31-year-old...

What's up, humpbacks! On our whale watch on M/V Seahawk today, we had a chance to encounter these massive baleen whales out in the Rosario Straight - a real treat, considering we don't always get the chance to pass by Orcas and Shaw Island on our tours. These beautiful islands greeted us with views of rocky bluffs dotted with wildflowers, pine trees, and the ever graceful medrona trees. The sun sparkled brightly overhead, hinting of exciting things to come. Not a single breeze waved...

It's not a pretty fact, but it's science: killer whales are among the world's most contaminated marine mammals. 

How is this possible? What toxins are the orcas dealing with? What are scientists looking at, and how can we help?

It comes down to PCB's, or polychlorinated biphenyls. These are a type of POP, "persistant organic pollutant," that first originated at the start of the last century and are commonly found in the Puget Sound. They were used for a good part of 70 years in...