Sarah | 09/13/2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today was just a lovely day on the water! With calm seas and some reports of several baleen whales in our area, Captain Gabe and I were eager to hit the water.

We started our day heading south from Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass between San Juan Island and Lopez Island. We stopped for a brief look at some Steller’s sea lions hauled out on a rocky outcropping known as Whale Rocks. These massive pinnipeds are the...

Erick | Tuesday, September 10, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | Noon

Today, Captain Pete and I took a fantastic group of passengers out on a noon trip to search the Salish Sea for some fun critters. It was another beautiful day that was the perfect fall temperature. It started out very foggy and dripping and by the afternoon was warm and sunny. Capt. Pete and I went north and immediately saw a how bunch of Harbor Porpoises hunting in the strong currents around Point Caution! As we journeyed...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/23/19 | 11:00am

 Today was extraordinary!

It was a little touch and go there at the start as we began our tour in the pouring rain. But, everyone really seemed determined to have a very adventurous time despite the wetness! What troopers!

Eventually, the skies lightened, and we were able to dry a bit as we sped down south through the San Juan Channel. Here we stopped to watch roosting cormorants with Cattle Point lighthouse standing beautifully in the...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/11/19 | 11:00am

Today was so fun!

We got incredibly lucky as Captain Gabe and I headed out of Friday Harbor and basically found a whale immediately!

We first spotted a bald eagle up in the trees near the harbor! We stopped to check him out and watch him perched up in a tree, scanning his surroundings for any fish!

Then, we joined our whale! We identified him as T65A2 swimming by himself up the east side of San Juan! And he was booking it. Swimming super fast...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/30/19 | 11:00am

Today, Pete and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor up towards the north, just scanning around all the different islands to find some wildlife.

As we boated up through the San Juan Channel, we stopped by White Rocks to view some harbor seals! These chunky, floppy animals basked in the sunlight and enjoyed napping as the tides slowly approached their rocks.

We continued onwards up into Canadian Islands. We crossed Boundary Pass and entered...

Olivia | July 22nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Despite the beautiful sunshine, Olympic mountain range silhouetting the southern horizon, and Mount Baker proudly standing above the San Juan Islands, we ended up having fairly rough seas as we headed out on our adventure. We left Friday Harbor aware of two potential whale sightings, one very far north and moving further away, or another south near Whidbey Island where the swells were about 3-4 feet in some areas of our travel. Captain...

Olivia | July 21st, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

PSA: Long Blog for an epic afternoon!

After having an incredible morning trip, Captain Gabe and I set out again to find the whales we had the opportunity to see in the morning, and potentially stumble upon some more. As we were leaving Friday Harbor, we already saw both a Bald Eagle and a Harbor Seal. We continued up towards Spieden Island and were able to observe some lazier Harbor Seals with their pups in addition to Fallow Deer...

Olivia | July 17th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 3:00pm

What an adventurous Adventure Tour on our M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe! We had a morning trip with 22 passengers and an evening private charter with a fabulous work group for their team bonding. For both the 11:00am and 3:00pm trips, we saw the same Cetaceans within our waters.

In the morning we decided to head north around San Juan Island and eventually end up in Haro Strait where our first reported whale sighting was. On...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/21/19 | 12:00pm

The sun shone high in the sky on this lovely Friday in Friday Harbor! Almost immediately, the crew received reports of whales not too far away, so everyone got really excited.

Captain Pete, Naturalist Erin and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of the harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. Passing between San Juan and Lopez, we boated past Cattle Point lighthouse, a beautiful southern point to our island. Then, we turned...

Laura | Saturday June 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12pm/ 5:30pm

Today was a wonderful day out on the water aboard M/V Sea Lion!  We first found a large congregation of harbor seals hauled out along the rocks of the east side of Flat Top, one of the nearby islands along the San Juan Channel.  Some of these seals were jumping in the water and a few came close by our vessel to check out the passenger!  The seas were so calm today we were able to view a bunch of jellyfish looking down from...