Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | October 11th, 2024 | 12:30pm

Nothing was reported in our range as we left Friday Harbor on this lovely fall afternoon. After exiting the harbor and entering San Juan Channel, captain Eric and I had fully prepared to go into search mode. Luckily, a report came in! A group of whales found in Lopez Sound, a very easy transit for us. We turned left into Upright Channel and rounded the northern tip of Lopez Island. This particular spot offers an amazing view of Mt. Baker. In the...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 23rd, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Happy Monday from the M/V Sea Lion! We began our afternoon by heading south, excited to explore San Juan Channel and search for wildlife. Our first stop was at Goose Island near Cattle Point on the southeast side of San Juan Island. We got great looks at one of my favorite marine mammals, the harbor seal, as well as lots of cormorants and other sea birds along the rocks. It’s always a great sign to see this kind of activity in our...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | September 21st, 2024 | 2:00 pm

The T049 matriline owned the inter-island zone today. Reports were coming in with members from this famous family along multiple sides of Lopez Island. T049C was headed north in San Juan Channel, T049A1 was heading south in Rosario Strait and the rest of the T049A1’s (minus T049A2/Jude) were hanging out in Thatcher Pass! Captain Eric and I were excited to get on the water for this T049 family affair, but where to begin? T049C/Nielson made that...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | September 12th, 2024 | 12:30pm

Our Thursday afternoon tour aboard the M/V Sea Lion started how we wish every tour would begin. Not only did we have reports of killer whales, but we had reports of multiple killer whale social gatherings. Not one, but two T-Partys had been found in Rosario Strait. A “T-Party” refers to a large group of Bigg’s AKA Transient (hence the “T”) killer whales. For a gathering to be a true T-Party, there must be members from at least three different...

Elle | M/V Osprey | 8/14/2022 | 12:30 PM and 5:30 PM

Today on Osprey, we spent the day with two families of Bigg's killer whales; the T099 family and the T036 family. This was a group of ten whales, including a calf born in 2021 which still had a pinkish tinge to its eye patches (the normally white spots on the side of the whale, right behind their eyes). These whales were formerly known as transient, and each individual is given an identifying set of numbers and letters, such as T...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | 6/14/2022 |12:30PM

Captain Erick and I left the dock with a smaller group today. It’s always refreshing to have a boat with only a few folks, as it gives you the perfect opportunity to better connect with your guests. With only 8 passengers aboard, M/V Sea Lion cruised out of Friday Harbor for a quick San Juan Channel crossing right into Upright Channel. We hugged the coast of Lopez Island before puttering around Ram Island into Lopez pass. While in Lopez...

I can’t think of a better Saturday afternoon spent than on the deck of MV Osprey! We departed Friday Harbor for our afternoon tour and headed south down San Juan Channel towards Whale Rocks where we encountered our first cetacean of the day -- a Minke Whale! The Minke Whale is a type of baleen whale, which unlike our toothed whales in the Salish Sea such as the orca, has baleen keratin plates that allows them to filter feed. These mammals eat...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/28/2022 | 2:00pm

    Sometimes it's really nice to mix things up. We are super fortunate for pretty stellar weather during the summer: sunny skies and little wind. Though every now and again Mother Nature mixes it up on us, and today was one of those days. 

    Kestrel zoomed out of Friday Harbor southbound, shooting out of Cattle Pass and rounding the southern shores of Lopez Island. We stopped at Davidson Rock where we heard rumors of a Humpback whale. 

 ...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 05/01/2022 | 1:30pm

    Today was kinda perfect. Before we even began suiting up a group of Killer Whales had been picked up in the Juan de Fuca and were angled straight up towards the San Juans. We hadn’t even touched water and it was already shaping up to be a great day!

    We stopped first at Goose Island and scoped out the Glaucus Gulls, Double Crested and Pelagic Cormorants that rested on the rocks steep sides. 

    We continued onward and it didn’t take...

Olivia | March 18th, 2022 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

Today’s trip was so unexpected for March here in the Salish Sea. We were lucky enough to leave the dock with some reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales in Rosario Strait! With these whales moving south and being a bit further away, we headed inner island and down through Lopez Sound in hopes of seeing something black and white.

Slowly coming on scene, we spotted their black dorsal fins and misty spouts moving northwest of us about a half...