Monday August 15th, 2022

Abby Dahl

M/V Osprey 12:30pm

Gabe, Helena, Olivia, and I pulled away from the dock with recreational boat traffic lined up for the fuel dock; a mid-summer reminder that the season end is nearer than we could fathom. With walkies attached to each hip, we navigated our way out of the harbor and introduced the wildlife and ecology of the area to a boat full of new friends.

We veered right through San Juan Channel, southbound to a humpback whale report. The...

July 21st, 2022

Abby Dahl

2pm M/V Sea Lion

Captain Erick and I chugged out of a busy Roche Harbor, with our sights set on a humpback whale just north of Stuart Island on the Canadian border. We cruised by some thermoregulating harbor seals and their newborn pups, with the sun glistening off the calm waters of Spieden Channel. When we got to the humpback whale identified as the female “Fallen Knight,” we had some great looks and some beautiful tail flukes.

Upon leaving the scene and...

July 1st, 2022

Abby Dahl

12:30pm Osprey

We left the dock on a beautiful, cloudy Friday afternoon. There had not been any whale sightings yet for the day, so we strapped on our binos and kept an eye out for anything remotely whale-like. We cruised north through San Juan Channels potting harbor seals and bald eagles. After some time, we were notified that a humpback whale known as BCX0915, better known as “Fallen Knight” was nearby, on the west side of Orcas Island.

We had some great...

Maxx K. | 06/20/2022 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00pm

    It took next to no time for Kestrel to fly into the Juan de Fuca today. The sea was just choppy enough to spice up our travels a little bit as we raced off to meet Big Mama and her calf over Hein bank. Big Mama is probably the coolest Humpback whale that I’ve ever met. She’s a pioneer to start, being one of the first humpbacks observed here during the Humpback Comeback back in 1997. Since then she returns here year after year and has...

June 16th, 2022

Abby Dahl

12:30pm Osprey

Gabe, Maxx, Helena and I took to the water as we wrestled the current coming out of Friday Harbor. Bald eagles sat perched in the tree tops at Friday Harbor Labs, and the water shimmered an emerald green. We stopped at Flattop Island on our cruise north, rumors of humpback whales in almost the same place we left them the day before; same individuals too.

We took photos and watched the harbor seals roll around the rocky shoreline, many of them...

June 14, 2022

Abby Dahl

12:30pm Osprey

We took off out of the harbor, rumors of two humpback whales to the north. We zipped through San Juan Channel towards Boundary Pass, harbor seals and harbor porpoise ducking under the water in the distance. It was a clear day, visibility several miles in all directions.

Once we turned into the Strait of Georgia, we saw the humpbacks, identified as:

Divot (Female, born in 2003 to “Big Mama”)

Orion (Juvenile, birth year unknown)

As we watched them...

June 13th, 2022

Abby Dahl

12:30pm Osprey

It was a windy day in the harbor. After departing the dock and spotting multiple bald eagles along the Friday Harbor Labs treeline, we made our way north through San Juan Channel. We passed Spieden Island and turned west pas Roche Harbor at the northern tip of San Juan Island. There were reports of a humpback whale traveling in an unpredictable pattern through Haro Strait. The whale hadn’t been seen in 45 minutes, so our trip turned into a...

June 9th, 2022

Abby Dahl

12:30pm Osprey

We boarded Osprey on a typical, rainy northwest afternoon. Cruising out of the harbor, we turned northbound and entered the San Juan Channel. Reports loomed of a humpback whale mother and calf heading through Boundary Pass, so we thought we’d give it a go, scanning for orcas along the way as the misty air hung in a still balance amidst a lush island backdrop.

We cruised along while harbor seals seemed to drift in and out of sleep on the rocky...

Maxx K. | M/V Osprey | 06/01/2022 | 12:30pm

    Humpback whales are just the coolest. Here in the Salish Sea we have a “Humpback Highway” of sorts; these massive 45 tonne animals will travel in through the Juan De Fuca and will often then take a hard left up and through the Haro Strait, through Boundary Pass and often again up and around towards the north. What truly blows my mind the most is that these animals will make this trek year after year, taking the same specific turns...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | May 23rd, 2022 | 12:30pm

The Pacific Northwest decided to pull one of her most cliché moves by raining on a day that didn’t call for it; but off we went with happy faces ready for whatever the day brought. Heading north, we stopped at Flattop Island admiring heaps of Pigeon Guillemots with their red feet bold against the green water. Nearby we found several Harbor Seals swimming along the basalt rock as well as an adult Bald Eagle stoically looking across the...