Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | March 29, 2025 | 12:30 pm

Our Saturday, March 29th Classic Whale Watch and Wildlife tour was a success before even leaving the dock. That’s because 10 minutes before our tour departed, killer whales were found right outside of Friday Harbor! We left the dock and alerted our guests that luck was on their side and instructed them to look for dorsal fins in the distance. Sure enough, not even 15 minutes into our trip we were on scene with 7 Bigg’s Killer Whales. The whales we...

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | April 1st, 2025 | 12:30pm

We left Friday harbor with nothing but a loose shore-based report of killer whales far up north which was now unfortunately now 2 hours old…Yikes! I stayed hopeful that something would be discovered either by us or the other whales watching vessel’s searching during our 3-4 hour tour. Something was found indeed! 5 Bigg’s killer whales were reported in Sansum Narrows, the passage between mainland Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island. This location...

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 30th, 2025 | 12:30pm

Everyone on board the M/V Sea Lion on this lovely Sunday afternoon had a hopeful and excited attitude as we left the harbor. I received so many thoughtful questions about the environment and all the impressive species that occupy it. 

After taking a left out of Friday Harbor and heading up and out of San Juan Channel, our first stop was White Rock. White Rock is a hot spot for what we lovingly call our “Rock Sausages” aka harbor seals. We were...

Olivia Esqueda | March 22nd, 2025 | M/V Sea Lion | 2:30pm Charter

This afternoon was such a special treat out on the water with the Orca Behavior Institute’s Biggs 201 Class. Lucky for us, we were able to leave the dock about 10 minutes early, which worked in our favor since we had a whale report flirting with the line of the range our vessel could travel in the allotted timeframe to get folks back for the 6:25pm ferry!

We immediately started traveling south through San Juan Channel keeping San...

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 21sh, 2025 | 12:30pm

After pouring all morning, the rain finally lifted as we motored out of Friday Harbor and into San Juan Channel. The sun was even peeking out from the overcast sky and the water was flat calm. We certainly did not have to travel far today; whales were reported right outside the harbor!  A group of 3 Biggs Killer Whales known as the T124A’s

• T124A Kittywake 1984 F
• T124A6 Kasuun 2016 M
• T124A7 ----- 2021 F 

This group is made up of mom (kittywake) and her...

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 16th, 2025 | 12:30pm

     Rare for the start of a season, we had not one…but two different whale reports as we left the harbor. We opted to first head north up San Juan Channel, investigating a solo male killer whale report around Crane Island. This killer whale was identified as:

• T49C Nielson 1998 M

As we arrived on scene, the bull was nowhere to be found. After a long 15 minutes of listening and anticipation, that massive 6ft tall dorsal fin appeared! We watched this...

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 10th, 2025 | 12:30pm
 

Excitement was in the air as we left the harbor on our first tour of the 2025 season! The sky was an overcast grey but at least the forecasted rain was holding off. No whale reports just yet…so we were fully in scanning mode. Our first wildlife encounter was almost instantaneous. A bald eagle soaring overhead suddenly took a nosedive entrapping an unlucky fish in its talons. Gulls swarmed around the commotion as the massive raptor flew off and...

Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | September 28th, 2024| 12:30pm

Saturday out on the water was SO fun! We headed south through San Juan Channel making a brief stop at Goose Island where we saw Harbor Seals, Double Crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants before passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and exploring the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After transiting past heaps of Surf Scoters, we came across a large bait ball where we were able to see one of the few Minke Whales in the Salish Sea. However, we...

Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | September 25th, 2024 | 12:30pm

We are loving these fall days out on the water. Not only can we see the wildlife that spend the summer months here still hanging around, but we are also starting to see a return of the wildlife that will spend the winter months in these waters. These transitional phases bring in a broader biodiversity within the Salish Sea, making the shoulder seasons some of our favorite times of year to get out on the water. 

Today we felt lucky to...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 29th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Today was the perfect afternoon as Captain Vaun and I headed out on our last trip of the season together. We left Friday Harbor and began traveling north up San Juan Channel to follow up on some reports of whales near Sidney, BC. As we passed Spieden Island, we stopped to look at a few harbor seals hanging out on some small islands before continuing to the Haro Strait. Once we were nearing the Canadian Border, we suddenly saw the dorsal...