Piper | Thursday, May 16, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Today was one of those rare Spring days when we get to leave the dock with a sighting already reported. That never means we will definitely see whales, but it for sure increases our chances. Sometimes the animals give us the slip, but with the sun shining down strong Captain Gabe, myself, and an awesome group of people headed south into San Juan Channel, through Cattle Pass and out into the beautiful Strait of Juan de Fuca! We...

Sarah | 05/10/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

We have been having just spectacular days here in the San Juan Islands. The sun was shining today, and we had some great wildlife around the islands. Captain Pete and I elected to head south through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass to see what we could find on a mirror-smooth day out in the Straits. We had quite the tidal exchange today, so we had lots of upwelling and currents swirling around us as we made our way south.

We decided to...

Erick | Wednesday, May 8, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

 

Today we were lucky enough to get another warm sunny day in the San Juan Islands. Captain Gabe and I took out a group of lovely folks to go search for some local wildlife. We started by going south through San Juan Channel and then east towards Whidbey Island. This shoreline for the past couple of days has hosted a few Grey Whales so were going to search the areas along the way there as well as stop by and look to see if those...

Piper | 05/07/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 

Even though it's still early season, the sun shone today like a warm summer afternoon and the skies were so clear we could even see Mt Rainier as Captain Gabe and I led the M/V Sea Lion out of the marina, where we had an early bald eagle sighting, and south through San Juan Channel. After getting into the Strait of Juan de Fuca we headed east towards Whidbey Island where there had been whisperings of a gray whale feeding in the mud! It was a...

Jordan | August 7, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

Today the sun was out and shining and the water seemed especially calm as we headed out of Friday Harbor in our search to find whales! We headed south down through the San Juan Channel and through Cattle Pass past the southern point of San Juan Island.

We then spotted some Steller sealions on the Whale Rocks! These massive creatures lumbered around this tiny island barking at each other and rolling around, trying to get as much sun as...

We went to Whidbey Island, near the Whidbey Island Navel Base, to see not one, but two gray whales.

One appeared to be a bit larger than the other. Gray whales are amazing animals.

While there, we also saw some very cool Navy Jets flying right over us!!! On the way back we spotted a submarine... I had to take a couple of double takes but sure enough it was a submarine. After our submarine encounter we then headed toward Long Island and found a bald eagle.

On Whale Rocks we saw...

Gray whale today near Whitbey Island Naval Base.

These whales have a streamlined body with a narrow, tapered head. Gray whales are always great to watch. We observed the whale foraging. We even saw the whales fluke.

Gray whales are bottom sediment feeders. The whale exhibited the predictable breathing pattern. Gray whales are a mysticete or baleen whale and have two blow holes.

Sometimes you can see a heart or v-shaped spray shape. This is really cool... We also got to see some harbor...